A walk among butterflies
by Jen Joynt on August 01, 2012 in Wildlife: Invertebrates, Reptiles, Amphibians
I never quite know what I might find when I set out with my camera, my binoculars, and my wandering eyes. Recently, I headed out in Tilden Nature Area, one of my regular haunts, hoping to find fun wildlife to photograph.
And I did, although not quite what I was expecting. About a quarter mile into my walk, my eye was captivated by a pale swallowtail. I love watching swallowtails, but it seems every time I see one with camera in hand, they have no interest in landing. Fortunately, this one did land for me.
As I continued my walk, I found a Lorquin’s admiral alight on some scat (looked like coyote scat to me). Apparently, butterflies get salt and other minerals from scat.
I often see California buckeyes while I am hiking. They appear dusty and drab-looking until you get a close up and can see their beautiful markings.
As I headed down one of my favorite unofficial side trails, I caught a northern checkerspot spreading its wings.
One last detour on my way back led to multiple swallowtails and a few more opportunities to photograph them.
And, then, just as I reached the end of the trail, I spotted another Lorquin’s admiral, which appeared to be standing and feeding on a leaf.
A few walkers came by, and the Admiral flew off. It had turned out to be a lovely little adventure: my own personal butterfly walk.
2 comments:
What a lovely, peaceful experience. Thank you for sharing!
Glorious! Felt like I was out in nature just here at my desk. Jen caught some marvelous behavior of these creatures: Pale Tigers are known to be attracted to red flowers ( I’ve even seen them in the Sierras on Snow Plant! Who knew?) The Northern Checkerspot is a female and the “sitting” on the Lorquin’s is because he is one of the “perching” butterflies – darting out from about shoulder height
at anything in hopes of a mate. Nice job Jen. Always fantastic when we can go beyond their beauty and show the world their behavior. Bravo Bay Nature!