Red-banded hairstreak

I'm sure I have posted a shot of this type of butterfly but it's worth repeating.  It is tiny, tiny.  Less than an inch total.  I found it sampling some parsley this evening. 

Cover Girl

Butterflies showed up with the warm spring and there is plenty blooming to keep them busy.  I finally managed a shot of the Red Admiral.  This beauty graces the jacket cover of my butterfly field guide.

The notes state that the Red Admiral likes to chase other Red Admirals and Painted Ladies before a storm and at dusk .  Maybe its the change in energy.  Here's a Painted Lady on my stunning patch of Calendula.  She'll make a fine chasing partner.

Red-banded Hairstreak

I did not know there was a group of butterflies called Hairstreaks, even with a handy guide on my shelf, until I spotted this little one. It is about an inch in size and decorated like a Seminole quilt!

Variegated Fritillary

How is that for a name? I saw two today, in my garden, a first! My guide book tells me that they are likely passing through to Canada. Can't blame them, it's looking like a very hot summer for the south.

The Miners and the Butterfly

As we watch the amazing rescues of the Chile miners today, the story of the miners and the white butterfly is one that sticks: two miners reportedly stopped to watch a white butterfly in the mine and the stop to gaze at that wonder saved them.

There is the idea of a sign and the idea of the chance of it all, but I take away the idea of the stop. I love to stop and look as close as I can at the wonder. It's a stop I learned in childhood; my Father alerted us to look at the bird, the bug, all the wildlife around us.

So stop and gaze, it's all a wonder. Here a Sulfur Cloud Butterfly samples a Hummingbird Vine bloom.

Painted Lady and Perfume

My oregano is blooming. I need to quickly cut some stems for drying before they all set blooms. This Painted Lady Butterfly is enjoying the nectar and maybe the heady fragrance. The underside of the wings have a great pattern.

Pearly Crescentspot

This female butterfly was spotted last week on one of our few sunny days.

Buckeye

This butterfly was spotted a couple days ago. The eye spots are really something. My field guide reads that the Buckeyes move south in the fall and in Cape May, NJ the numbers rival the Monarch migrations. I only spotted one, but I was happy to have him stop in and feed.

Wildflower and Skipper

A skipper butterfly samples a roadside wildflower.

Tawny Emporer

Don't you just love the name for this butterfly?

Monarch

Orange winged beauty.

Whirlabout

This little guy is a skipper. I'm seeing lots of skippers in the yard. My field guide reads that skippers and true butterflies are the two superfamily divisions of butterflies. The name Whirlabout is given for the flight pattern. It makes me think of the mystical Whirling Dervishes.

Wood Nymph

According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies (thanks for that handy reference R&J!), this is the largest wood nymph, the only one east of the Mississippi and prefers rotting fruit. Maybe it was after the rain split tomatoes in the garden.

Painted Lady

An eyecatcher, this butterfly is found all over the world and in my front yard.

Sharing the Parsley

Of course to have butterflies, I need to share some garden goodies. Parsley is a fav for the swallowtail caterpillars.

Giant Swallowtail

I love having flowers in the garden. They bring in beauties like this one I found yesterday afternoon.

Swallowtail

The wild vine climbing along a fence line gives the swallowtail a buffet of flowers.