Subject: First Sighting

From: Gregory <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 15:38:00 -0500

Hi. I finally got my first butterfly sighting for this spring.  A Mourning
Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) observed patrolling a sunny spot in a red
pine/pitch pine/white pine plantation near Shickshinny Borough in Luzerne
County, northeast Pennsylvania. My friend Jim Hoyson of Wilkes-Barre
photographed this butterfly as it was very fresh looking for a re-emerging
adult.  Not at all ragged like so many others of this species I have
observed in past years.  Interestingly, this particular pine plantation,
which is located on a hilltop overlooking the Susquehanna River, held an
active Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) nest in 1995. Temperature was
about 55 F.
Cheers.
Alan Gregory
************************************************************
Gregory                                 "We stand for what we stand on."
Penn State Hazleton                    - Edward Abbey
717-450-3188

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