Congratulations @itsamantis! Observation of the Joker butterfly within the city borders is the 'Butterfly Observation of the month for the Pune district'!
(Butterfly Observation of the Month: August 2022.).
Many group members appreciated this observation. It is an important observation considering that the Joker butterfly is a pure grassland butterfly. Hence, it is very rear in the city. @itsamantis observed it in the Hadpser region, noting that it is near the Saswad grassland. Previously, Jocker was documented on the inaturalist only once within the city limit at ARAI hills in 2015 (@pavandamoor 's observation). All other Joker observations are near Mayureshwer Sanctuary and the Saswad grassland region.
Discussing Grasslands, Bhigwan is another less-explored grassland for butterflies in the Pune district.@gaurikarlekar observed the unique courtship behavior of plain tiger butterflies in the Bhigawan grassland. It's interesting as the image shows around five males chasing a single female butterfly. The female is clearly showing rejection by pointing the abdomen upward. @gaurikarlekar also observed the mating pair of common leopards mobbed by other butterflies same species. @jayantdeshpande also observed the Agonistic mating behavior of the Red Pierrot butterfly in his terrace garden. @himanshupandav also observed the mating pair of the Red Pierrot butterfly in his garden. he also observed the mating pair of Tamil Grass Dart. @pashu4you observed the mating pair of ring butterfly. @mandarn observed the mating pair of Chestnut Bob. @suraj38 observed the mating pair of Common Gull in Pisaware village. @naturalist52570 observed courtship behavior of the African Babul Blue. So many courtships and mating Observations!
These results in life cycle observations as well! For example, multiple egglaying and caterpillar-observations of Red Pierrot butterflies. Egg laying of Tiger mimicking danaid Eggfly, Angled Pierrot, tawny coster, and so on...
Another interesting thing to note is that many observations of butterflies nectroring on the Justica plant.
To conclude, August is a starting season for Joker, and one can expect an increase in the life cycle and courtship observations. In August 2022, butterfly activity increased the number of observations(289) and species(88) compared to July 2022. Even the diverse area covered in the Month.

@pavandamoor is back on the leaderboard and is at the top with 70+ observations. @bhagwatn is in second place with 45 observations, and @itsamantis is in third place with 35 observations.

Happy Butterflying!

Congratulations @virenvaz! Your Sahyadri Common Orange Awlet observation is 'Butterfly observation of the month for Pune District' (September 2022). It is a new addition to the inaturalist checklist for the Pune district, https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/ has one record of the species from Junnar. The first time a person who is not a Pune resident has the observation of the month. @virenvaz is originally from Mumbai. He retired early and left Mumbai to travel around the villages of interior Maharashtra. He was on a trip to a farmhouse around Pawna. Early in the morning, he heard a Malabar whistling thrush in the bush close to the house. So, he stepped out in search of the bird. In moving around chasing that Malabar whistling thrush, he disturbed this butterfly. Initially, he thought it was a moth. But when the butterfly settled, he noticed the orange portion and got excited. The butterfly is a lifer for him as well!
We celebrate September as big butterfly month, most of our group members explore butterflies, and the butterfly activity is also good. Hence, we expect more observations and such surprises from the month. September 2022 is no different. There are 1334 observations involving 129 species from 50+ observers.

Are there any other new additions to the list? Yes! Indian Pierrot! Yet another Pierrot species added to the checklist from @mandarn and @ninadsr! The King Crow butterfly is also a recent addition and has also been observed this month at multiple locations. @bhagwatn sir documented it in KV School Garden, and @mandarn and @ninadsr saw it in Tamhini. Speaking about Tamhini, @himanshupandav observed a Common Rose Swallowtail butterfly in Tamhini; this is just the second observation on the iNaturalist of the species from Tamhini.

Remember the last 'observation of the month'? The Joker butterfly? and guess what, this month group members observed egg and caterpillar of the species! Similar to the last month, this month also has multiple mating pair observations such as Lemon Pansy, Blue Tiger, Mottled Emigrant, Dart , Swift , White Orange Tip , Small Grass Yellow, and a beautiful courtship observation of Danaid Eggfly. Many caterpillar observations too! Such as, @madhavijoshi clicked a beautiful frame of Indian Tailless Lineblue on Mimosa inflorescence, @abhilare documented interesting queue of Jazebel caterpillars. @pavandamoor observed Angled Pierrot, andCommon Leopard caterpillar in Tamhini; and Angled Castor in the grassland of Saswad region. Also, there are multiple Common Mormons, grass demons, Jays, Red Pierrots, Crows, Blue tigers, and Plain tiger caterpillars observations.
Speaking about Pupae, @itsamantis observed Pansy Pupa trying to match surrounding colors, @santoshbhor documented a Pupa of a Pioneer on a wall and multiple Pupae of Tailed Jay on the host plant in school's butterfly Garden.
The school students @sanchita13 and @aniket11 observed the Sahyadri Blue Oakleaf butterfly at the Bhor Bus Stand. @bhagwatn observed a beautiful congregation of blue tigers and crow butterflies in KV school. He also documented the puddling of the Small grass yellows having around eight yellows and three blue butterflies in one frame! @mandarn clicked the inaria form of Danaid Eggfly. I must mention the university butterfly walk. The participants uploaded many beautiful nectoring observations from Pune University.
The lead observer of this month is @himanshupandav, with 268 observations from different places, including 70+ species. He enjoyed big butterfly Month. @bhagwatn is not far behind with 252 observations. @pavandamoor and @santoshbhor have 150+ observation this Month.

Happy Butterflying!