Hey, I called Dibs on this Coneflower.
We have had many Painted Lady butterflies visiting the area this summer and with nectar at a premium competition did seem to heat up for the best coneflowers in the field.
Tag: butterflies
Common Wood-nymph: Cercyonis pegala
I wonder if this beautiful butterfly we have named the Common Wood-nymph calls us the Common-Humans?
Duet
A wonderful duet between pollinators and flowers. In this instance Blanket Flower was the host of the party which had numerous attendees all lining up to dance with the host one by one.
Lorquin’s Admiral
The Lorquin’s Admiral is one of those butterflies you see flittering through the air all summer. Flying nearby but not to near heading left then heading right but one you half-heartedly chase around while eon the trail hoping they will land close enough for a halfway descent photo and if they do land and you chose not to have the wrong lens on your camera it will be a photo well rewarded. This was one of those days we were rewarded. We spotted The Lorquins perched near the top of a small pine tree and as soon as we could get the shutter clicked they flew down to a small streamed for a quick drink.
Isn’t amazing how many colors butterflies eyes come in?
On Buckwheat
A few weeks back the wild Buckwheat plants we in full bloom along a trail we were hiking and they proved irresistible to a wide variety of butterflies seeking a nice sip of nectar on a hot summer afternoon. With both the Sulfur-flowered and Yellow-flowered species both in full bloom there was a buckwheat to meet the tastes of even the most discriminating species. While the Acadain Blue and Juniper Hairstreak we more partial to the Sulfur-flowered buckwheat….
The Fritillaries, Checkerspots and this beautiful Field Crescent favored the Yellow-flowered variety.
A beautiful collection of butterflies all within the span of 50 meters along the trail.
Outside-Inside
It’s always an amazement to us how different so many butterflies look with wings up versus wings open and this little Blue Copper is no exception yet just as perfect on the outside and on the inside so to speak. A subtle color or specific pattern on one side to avoid predation or perhaps signal toxicity to predators and a more showy side thought to function predominantly to signal availability to mate.
Wow!
Just a handful
A Milbert’s Tortoiseshell Butterfly sips sweet nectar on an August afternoon. While many of the butterflies we see are present in great numbers through the summer there are some we only see a handful of and then only for a few weeks at the most. The Milbert’s is one of them.
Another not so frequent observation is the Red Admiral.
The Pink-Edged Sulphur is always one of the most skittish and elusive of butterflies for us to photograph each summer. They seem to have that sixth sense and fly away even before we can get within range.
Another butterfly we only see a handful of each summer is not a butterfly at all but a moth. The Police-car Moth to be exact.
Suspended
As seen from above
Suspended in time
A butterfly rests their wings
Lorquin’s Admiral
Although we see a couple every summer the Lorquin’s Admiral not as abundant as many of the other butterflies we see. This individual was resting, wings spend, on a wonderful lichen covered tree. The red wings spots and bright red eye make this a unique sight and one we never tire of.
On the blanket flowers
The local Fritillaries seem to like the Blanket flower as much as we do.
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