Hi folks! I made it back today from WV, did a walk-through of my yard, then promptly fell asleep. But I'm awake now and it's halftime (Monday Night Football) so here we go!

Let's start in Kentucky, since that's where I started. We went to a little town called Oil Springs where my third great-grandfather lived and is buried. We visited his cemetery along with the cemetery of his son. They're across the road from each other but the one is up a very steep hill. Boy, was I sore in the morning! Totally worth it, though. This was my third time visiting the cemeteries. In case you forgot, I was in KY for a genealogy conference. That's my other big hobby.

Luckily, my hobbies collide as butterflies like to hang out in wooded cemeteries. Now, I haven't submitted these to BAMONA yet, so I'm not 100% on some of these IDs. Help is always appreciated.

I think this first one is a Summer Azure and I think it was laying eggs, but I don't know the plants in that area. I'm just guessing by the way it has its body curved and how it was acting.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Summer Azure



Red Banded Hairstreak

UPDATE From BAMONA: Red Banded Hairstreak



These skippers aren't doing it yet, but he sure was trying.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Sachem



Now, I'm pretty sure I saw both Commas and Question Marks on this trip and I think I can tell the difference. Obviously, there's the mark on the underside. But I also think the Question Mark is bigger, more scalloped wings, and has longer tail-like extensions. There were a ton of these on the property of the guy where my third great-grandfather is buried. I believe these are Question Marks. FYI, I had never seen one before. I only saw a Comma one time years ago in WV. Also, these things are really hard to sneak up on! First, they look like dead leaves and there were a lot of dead leaves on the ground so I kept scaring the butterflies up and they would take off. I used my skills though, and I got some pictures.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Question Mark



Now, the genealogy conference was in a slightly larger town called Louisa, KY. We were at the community center but during breaks, I would go outside to this area where the flowers were growing. I already shared this photo, but it's so awesome, I feel like we all need to see it again. This is a Great Spangled Fritillary and Monarch on thistle.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Didn't submit this picture because there are two species on it but I submitted them individually and I was right. Great Spangled Frit and Monarch.



There were tons of skippers in the area. Some of these might be the same butterfly. FYI, the plants in the area included Joe Pye weed, thistle, ageratum, Japanese honeysuckle, what I think was Goldenrod, and Queen Anne's Lace.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Okay, the two in the middle are definitely Sachems, but I didn't send them all my skipper photos because I was afraid they'd get tired of confirming the same butterfly over and over.






Here's two of what I believe are roughed up Eastern Tailed Blues.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Eastern Tailed Blue



I saw a few Monarchs flying through. This one had a bite taken out of it! All the milkweed had gone to seed, by the way. I totally brought some seedpods home.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Monarch



Here's some more of that Great Spangled Fritillary before the Monarch showed up.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Great Spangled Fritillary



Ok, now we'll move to WV. Grandma wasn't home yet when we arrived and we couldn't remember where she hid her spare key so Dad chilled on the porch while I roamed the yard. There were a bunch of these skippers.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Fiery Skipper



And these different skippers.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Sachem again (but at least I was in a different state so it was a different person confirming it)



I found the weird remains of what looks like a Tussock Moth to me. Wonder what happened to it?



But finally a big score! I saw what I think is a Northern Pearly Eye (at least, according to my WV butterfly book). And it landed on me!

UPDATE From BAMONA: Northern Pearly Eye



The next day I saw a Gray Hairstreak.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Gray Hairstreak



And a Painted Lady in the remains of what used to be Grandpa's garden.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Painted Lady



I only managed one picture of some kind of Duskywing. Mine in FL are a lot nicer, but then again, I have Spanish Needles to keep them still.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Wild Indigo Duskywing (we don't get these in FL, by the way)



You know I was checking host plants, but I didn't expect to find anything this late. But I was surprised when I found three Spicebush cats and an egg! I dropped one of the cats. And my egg still hasn't hatched. But the other two are here at the house with me eating my home-grown Sassafras. That's the plant I found them on, FYI. Oh, and Spicebush grows in WV, too. My aunt told me on Facebook a few weeks ago that they had a plant my uncle called Spicebush. But you know how common names can be in the plant world! But I saw it, and more importantly, smelled it, and it was Spicebush. My uncle said they also call it Sourwood and you take the sticks and put it through meat when you cook it. Apparently, it flavors groundhog pretty well.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Spicebush Swallowtail



This tiny moth was on the front door one cool morning.

UPDATE From BAMONA: They had to reject my sighting but sent this comment: "This moth is too worn to be sure of identification. It may however, be a Texas Gray or Porcelain Gray."



Some kind of tussock moth on unknown plant?

UPDATE From BAMONA: Banded Tussock Moth or Pale Tiger Moth



A nicer-looking Eastern Tailed Blue.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Eastern Tailed Blue



My uncle's last name is Turley and he has two undocumented cemeteries on some of his property. I went up to document them and found some butterflies, too. And who should show up but my Red-Spotted Purple!

UPDATE From BAMONA: 'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple (This caused me to go read up on the various subspecies of the Red-Spotted Purple. I really want to see one of those White Admirals one day.)



And one of those Great Spangled Fritillaries showed up again.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Great Spangled Fritillary



Driving back down the hill, I spotted something in the gravel and told my uncle to stop. I warned him this was a thing with me - I go off chasing butterflies a lot. I believe this one is a Comma.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Esatern Comma



But in a cemetery the next day, I saw a Question Mark.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Question Mark



You know I complain about butterfly names sometimes, but whoever decided on Great Spangled Fritillary should get an award.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Great Spangled Fritillary



This Swallowtail is pretty shredded but I think it's a female Pipevine.

UPDATE From BAMONA: Spicebush Swallowtail (not sure I agree with them, but they are the experts)



Well, that's it for my vacation butterflies. Hope you all enjoyed the show!

Very cool! So...curious...what is an undocumented cemetery and how does one go about documenting it?

Deb, I primarily use the website www.findagrave.com It's very popular in the genealogy community. Basically, people upload the cemetery information including GPS data which is crucial in some of these rural areas. Then, they list all the people who are buried there and if possible, upload pictures of the tombstones. People can add entries to the cemetery as people are buried or if there is someone who was missed the first time around. You can also add biographical info, death certificate photos, and pictures of the people listed. It's very helpful for people like me who live far away from where their ancestors are buried. And some of the cemeteries in WV and KY would be impossible to find unless you had a local show you where they are. I'm just very grateful a distant cousin of mine put the Long cemeteries online and that I was able to take my grandfather there a few months before he died. He called it one of the best days of his life. So I try and repay the favor by documenting what I can. People can put in a photo request for their ancestors so I was walking around some of the cemeteries with lists of people and taking photos of their graves.

There are a lot of legal protections for cemeteries so I think it's also important to list them so mine companies can't go around blowing them up or Wal-Mart can't build a store on top of them. I'm very used to Florida which isn't a very old state and doesn't have a history of small, family-based cemeteries. In WV, people are buried where they lived and so some of these cemeteries are very small, but they are there. My 3rd great-grandfather's cemetery supposedly has five people buried in it, but there are only four markers and two are unreadable.

Melanie, thanks. I love the idea of family cemeteries and (?) assume that's not really possible any more (?) Perhaps I can check into that a bit...

Nice captures and cool adventures on your trip Melanie! Great close ups on the Goldenrods.

I've just been lost for an hour or so on the findagrave link. Found my grandparents graves as well as my aunt & uncle. Found a mistake on grandma's DOD.

Ann, there is a little "Edit" tab where you can submit an edit to the person who originally submitted the memorial. I've been correcting people left and right after all the cemetery visits I just did. Glad you're having fun with it!

I saw that edit tab & clicked it but it told me I have to join first. I will have to do that. Just didn't have time today. It's sort of silly that the DOD is wrong b/c it's carved correctly right there on the headstone for anyone to see.

When I get into these things I start thinking this is all a diminishing thing as so many are being cremated now & their ashes cast to the wind or tossed in the sea or where ever and no records are kept of that so generations from now, it will be extremely difficult for people to track things down.

That Monarch is a real beauty.

Glad you found your trip successful and fulfilling.

Never pursued family history much. I do know my great grandparents on my father's side immigrated from Germany when Bismark instituted the draft to bolster the German army's strength in the Franco-Prussian War in Europe around 1870's. They settled along the Illinois River where there was a lot of German settlers.. My grandparents went to school where both German and English were used.
The other side were Irish-German.

My great grand parents did the same Jack at the same time. They settled in Rockhampton , Eastern Central Queensland. There was a lot of prejudice against them by the English settler. They saw them as pinching Britishers jobs. He got interned during the WWs and was very bitter from the experiences.

Everyone, I edited my original post to let you know what the folks at BAMONA had to say. For the most part, I was right! By the way, I forgot to mention I spotted a Buckeye while I was up there. I also saw one Sulphur in the rural area where Grandma lives, but when we drove into Huntington there were a bunch of them flying around. We were driving though, so I couldn't get a picture, naturally. Dad really hates when I jump out of moving vehicles and chase butterflies. (Just kidding - never, ever do that unless you are a stunt person in a movie.)