The summer sun has melted the snow up high reducing the flow in this streamed to no more than a trickle. Even so, this stream bed was a place where butterflies met perhaps to get a drink of water or maybe a taste of the minerals on the rocks lining the stream bed.
While crossing the steam we took a long break to watch the butterflies do their thing. From Fritillaries, to Admirals and Skippers the stream bed was the place to be that day for butterflies and humans alike.
We see this butterfly at least once per summer and usually on the same week in mid-July. I am having a difficult time correctly identifying the species. Looks a bit like a form of white or a form of a sulphur. It is beautiful regardless the specific species and we always enjoy finding and observing one on our mid-summer hikes.
A Western White Butterfly taking a bit of a rest on the green green grasses growing in a field nearby. Spring has sure done it’s job this year as the grasses have grown up tall. It’s only a matter of time and the mid-summer heat before they will seed and turn towards brown. It all happened in what seems a blink of an eye this year and it sometimes feels hard to drink it all in.
Butterfly hill is a place not so far away where an old mine seepage trickles water from the side of the hill, and perhaps minerals, which seems to attract butterflies from near and far.
We have seen many varieties of butterflies there and we present a smattering, or perhaps better said, a sampling, of a few of these beautiful insects.
A nice spot to just sit and watch things happen for both butterfly and humans.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Is there a word you run across that no matter how many times you say it it just is a struggle to get past your brain and out your lips?
Well for me that word is Fritillary.
A beautiful species of butterflies, I confess, but I sure would rather look at them than have to address one directly… Hello Mr. or Mrs. Fritillary….that would not go well.
With that in mind here are some photos of these beautiful butterflies (notice how I did not say Fritillary) that we encountered this past summer.
Happy Fritillary Friday and have a wonderful weekend.
With all the other wildflowers long gone to seed a single thistle along the side of the road reminded me of one of those photos of the lone remaining watering hole in the Serengeti attracting animals from near and far for a nice cool drink. Only this thistle attracted the remaining nectar and pollen lovers in the area including skippers galore, whites and several alpine butterflies which all gathered to get that one last sip of nectar before summer slips away.
Perhaps a Margined White or another version of the Family Pieridae enjoying some time resting on a nice white wildflower. White on white…not a bad combination.
Until just a few weeks ago Swallowtails filled the air floating by often gliding up into the canopy and out of sight just as quickly as they appeared making photographs initially hard to come by.
However as days went on and with the butterfly bush calling the swallowtails in we got ample time to sit and observe at least three species of swallowtails in depth.
One one afternoons drive on a dusty old dirt road our path was even block by a congregation of Swallowtails which looked to include several species including the Pale Swallowtail, Western Tiger Swallowtail, Canadian Tiger Swallowtail and the Old-World Swallowtail.
Swallowtails block the way along an old dirt road.
A Western Tiger and Pale Swallowtail getting acquainted.
A comma Butterfly sipping sweet nectar and still going strong even though they look to have gone through the ringer with wings in tatters. Resilience in action.
Yellowstone NP.
As seen from above
Suspended in time
A butterfly rests their wings
nature has no boss 
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