Central Louisiana Birding & Wildlife: Kisatchie Longleaf Trail Butterfly Count, 2019 (Kisatchie National Forest, Natchitoches Parish)

an apparent Bell's Roadside-Skipper -- Kisatchie Ranger District, Kisatchie NF -- Though not flashy looking, these tiny brown butterflies were the highlight of the day (see: details below).

Related Posts:
- same count 2018 -
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/06/kisatchie-national-forest-natchitoches.html
- same location Sept. 2018 -
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/10/loose-alliance-field-trip-to-kisatchie.html
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This year's Kisatchie Longleaf Trail NABA Butterfly Count was held on June 22, 2019. The count circle is centered on the junction of Forest Service Roads 380 and 321 and encompasses everything within a 7.5 mile radius, which means that the count circle is primarily located in the Kisatchie National Forest (Kisatchie Ranger District, Natchitoches Parish). This is the 13th year that this count has been held, and the 2nd year in which I participated. This time my father Roland joined me. The other participants were Jeff Trahan (count organizer), Craig Marks (author of Butterflies and Skippers of Louisiana), Jean Trahan, Rosemary Seidler, Vicki LeFevers, Phillip Wallace, and Brad Moon. We met up at 9:30 a.m. at the Longleaf Scenic Vista Rec. Area before dividing into four parties to cover various locations in and around the NF. Everyone rejoined at 12:30 p.m. near the hillside bog on FS Rd 380 to look for Meske's Skipper at the traditional spot around the road junction. After an hour or so the groups parted again to cover additional locations before ending the count later in the afternoon.

Zebra Swallowtail - FS Rd 311

Zebra Swallowtail nectaring on Narrowleaf Mountainmint - FS Rd 311

Areas that my father and I visited to butterfly or passed through include the vista rec. area, Longleaf Scenic Byway, Red Bluff Rd, Forest Service Roads 342, 346, 321, 380, 365, 311, K281 (at end of FS Rd 365), Coyote Camp Rd, and Montrose Road. Here are habitat shots of some of these locations.

Longleaf Scenic Vista

Longleaf Scenic Vista Rec. Area

FS Rd 342

FS Rd 380

creek near K281

FS Rd 365

Oak Camp on FS Rd 311

The best butterfly locale of the day was on FS Rd 311 just south of junction with FS Rd 377 / Corral Camp turn off. Our party's 3 Zebra Swallowtails., 2 Southern Cloudywings, and final Meske's Skipper were among the butterflies found here. There was a lot of Narrowleaf Mountainmint here, which the butterflies were nectaring on.

Montrose Rd

Longleaf Scenic Byway

One of the reasons for the timing and placement of this count is to check in on the population of Meske's Skippers found in this part of the NF. This is one of only two areas in Louisiana where the Meske's is known to occur. This year the groups found a total of 15 Meske's Skippers, spread across multiple locations. My father and I saw 5 while making our rounds (1 & 2 on Red Bluff Rd, 1 on FS Rd 365, 1 on FS Rd 311). One Meske's was seen by the group when we gathered at the FS Rd 380 location.

Meske's Skipper on Rudbeckia at FS Rd 380

The most exciting finds, however, were the Dusky Roadside-Skipper and the two Bell's Roadside-Skippers. Both species were found on FS Rd 380. Brad Moon located a Dusky while at this spot and alerted the rest of us to come have a look. While everyone was watching and attempting to photograph this tiny brown skipper, it would routinely flush, disappear, and be rediscovered nearby. Many photos were taken by the party. Well, once folks began to take a closer look at the photos, it became apparent that not one but three individual roadside-skippers were involved. One was indeed the original Dusky Roadside-Skipper, but there were two separate individuals of another Amblyscirtes sp. Craig, Jeff, and Brad suspected Bell's, and after consulting several other experts, they determined that the skippers in question most likely are Bell's Roadside-Skipper.

one of the apparent Bell's Roadside-Skippers (Amblyscirtes belli)

Both of these roadside-skippers are new additions to the list of species that have been found on this count over the years. Excitingly, though, the Bell's Roadside-Skipper is probably a new state species for Louisiana! This is a good example of how citizen science projects, such as butterfly counts, can expand what's known about wildlife populations and distribution by getting more observers out in the field. One never knows what's out there.
I had no experience with these roadside-skippers before.
Here's a link to Brad's sighting report on BAMONA, with details and a MUCH better photo.
https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sighting_details/1211756
You can see more about Bell's Roadside-Skipper at the species account on BAMONA: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Amblyscirtes-belli.
A third new count species, Eufala Skipper, was found by Craig at a different location in the count circle.
The most numerous species of the day was Carolina Satyr (67). The most numerous species for my father and me was Spicebush Swallowtail (15 of the total 40).

three Spicebush Swallowtails - FS Rd 311

Below is the complete list of butterflies for the 2019 count as compiled by Jeff. After that are lists of birds and some other wildlife, as well as some wildflowers and other plants, that my father and I encountered.
Conditions were about 85-94 F.; sky variable/mixed, sunny; light wind.

Butterflies

39 species, 421 individuals

Pipevine Swallowtail - 15

Pipevine Swallowtail - Oak Camp

Zebra Swallowtail - 4

Zebra Swallowtail - FS Rd 311

Zebra Swallowtail -

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 4
Spicebush Swallowtail - 40

Spicebush Swallowtail - FS Rd 346

Spicebush Swallowtail - FS Rd 342

Palamedes Swallowtail - 10
Little Yellow - 11

King's Hairstreak - 5
Gray Hairstreak - 6

Gray Hairstreak on colicroot - FS Rd 311

Red-banded Hairstreak - 23
Eastern Tailed Blue - 2
Summer Azure - 2
American Snout - 3
Variegated Fritillary - 1
Pearl Crescent - 37
Question Mark - 2
American Lady - 2
Common Buckeye - 30
'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - 4
Goatweed Leafwing - 1
Carolina Satyr - 67
Little Wood-Satyr - 1
Common Wood-Nymph - 14

Common Wood-Nymph - K281

Silver-spotted Skipper - 3
Hoary Edge - 8
Southern Cloudywing - 20

Southern Cloudywing - FS Rd 311

So. Cloudywing - FS Rd 311

Confused Cloudywing - 1
Horace's Duskywing - 6
Swarthy Skipper - 42

Swarthy Skipper - FS Rd 380

Swarthy Skipper - FS Rd 311

Clouded Skipper - 15
Southern Skipperling - 1
Fiery Skipper - 1
Meske's Skipper - 15

Meske's Skipper - 1st individual on Red Bluff Rd

one of the two Meske's Skippers from the second spot on Red Bluff Rd

Meske's Skipper - FS Rd 380

Meske's Skipper - FS Rd 365

Meske's Skipper - FS Rd 311

Whirlabout - 4
Southern Broken-Dash - 13

Southern Broken-Dash -- Red Bluff Rd

Northern Broken-Dash - 2
Dun Skipper - 2
Bell's Roadside-Skipper - 2
Dusky Roadside-Skipper - 1
Eufala Skipper - 1

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Birds
9:04 a.m. - 4:50 p.m; ~20 miles
85-94 F.; sky highly variable, generally sunny; light wind

Northern Bobwhite - 6

female Northern Bobwhite - FS Rd 346 -- she and male are in video below

Wild Turkey - 2 males together beside Longleaf Scenic Byway
Mourning Dove - 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1
Chimney Swift - 2
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 2 - one (possibly two) at vista rec. area, one at FS Rd 380
Hairy Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 6
Red-eyed Vireo - 1
Blue Jay - 2
American Crow - 4
Purple Martin - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 9
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 3
Carolina Wren - 7
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 3
Brown Thrasher - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Bachman's Sparrow - 10
Eastern Towhee - 5
Yellow-breasted Chat - 5
Kentucky Warbler - 1
Hooded Warbler - 3
Pine Warbler - 31
Prairie Warbler - 2
Northern Cardinal - 16
Indigo Bunting - 24

Mammals -- Fox Squirrel, two White-tailed Deer

Herps -- Green (Bronze) Frog, Cope's Gray Treefrog; Prairie Lizard

Fish -- Longear Sunfish, Blackstripe/Blackspotted Topminnow, Western Mosquitofish

Dragonflies & Damselflies --

Texas Emerald -

female Texas Emerald - Longleaf Vista Rec. Area -- caught by Brad

(Swift?) River Cruiser -
Yellow-sided Skimmer -

Yellow-sided Skimmer - Red Bluff Rd

Yellow-sided Skimmer

Golden-winged Skimmer (or possibly Needham's Skimmer?) -

Golden-winged Skimmer (or Needham's Skimmer?) - FS Rd 346

Great Blue Skimmer -

Great Blue Skimmer - K281

skimmer sp. -
Common Sanddragon -

Common Sanddragon - Red Bluff Rd

Common Sanddragon - FS Rd 342

...Eastern Pondhawk, Eastern Amberwing, Blue Dasher, Carolina Saddlebags

Ebony Jewelwing -

Ebony Jewelwings - K281

Seepage Dancer -

Seepage Dancer - FS Rd 380

damselfly sp. -

female - K281

male - K281

Wildflowers --
Propeller Flower aka Pineland Lily (Alophia drummondii)...

Pineland Lily - Red Bluff Rd

? not sure what this one is, maybe some sort of Polygala (milkwort)? ...

? - Red Bluff Rd

false dragonhead sp. (Physostegia (angustifolia or virginiana?)) ...

Physostegia sp. - FS Rd 365

Eastern Featherbells (Stenanthium gramineum) ...

Featherbells - close-up below -- FS Rd 321 -- Many thanks, Mr. Shively, for the ID! I had no idea what they were until his comment (see comment section).

Featherbells -- FS Rd 321

Orange Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)...
Combleaf Yellow False Foxglove (Aureolaria pectinata) ...

Combleaf Yellow False Foxglove - FS Rd 342

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)...
coneflower sp. ...
pitcherplant (Sarracenia sp.) ...

pitcherplants at hillside bog - DO NOT TRAMPLE PLANTS!

Narrowleaf Mountainmint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) ...

Narrowleaf Mountainmin with Southern Cloudywing -- There was a stretch of FS Rd 311 with lots of these mountainmints growing on either side. This location had the best concentration and diversity of butterflies of any spot we visited all day.

ironweed sp. ...
Pinewoods Gentian (Sabatia gentianoides) ...
gentian sp. (Sabatia) ...
Yellow Meadow-Beauty (Rhexia lutea) ...

Yellow Meadow-Beauty - FS Rd 380

Meadow-Beauty (Rhexia marilandica or similar sp.) ...
Bidens sp. ...
lady's tresses (Spiranthes sp.)...

Lady's Tresses sp. - FS Rd 380

colicroot (Aletris sp.) ...
wild petunia sp. (Ruellia) ...
Carolina nightshade (Solanum sp.) ...
dayflower sp. (Commelina) ...
Verbena spp. ...

Verbena sp. - Longleaf Scenic Byway

...some other plants:
New Jersey Tea...

New Jersey Tea - FS Rd 380 -- Thanks to Brad Moon for locating this plant.

tentative i.d.: Sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana)...

Sweetbay - FS Rd 346

tentative i.d.: Sweetleaf aka Horse Sugar (Symplocos tinctoria)...

tentative i.d.: Sweetleaf -- creek near K281 -- Sweetleaf is the host plant for King's Hairstreak

As always, if you spot any incorrect ID or have suggestions for those I'm unsure about, feel free to let me know.
The Kisatchie Ranger District has a lot to offer nature enthusiasts and I look forward to my next visit.