Beauty on the wing
I’ve seen some interesting butterflies lately in my wanderings. Today’s walk revealed three.
The first is this variegated fritillary.
The second, I identified as a pearl crescent.
It’s only about 1 1/2 inches wide — very dainty, with such vivid coloration.
Smile for the camera!
The third is, I think, a common wood nymph. I spotted it first here.
But it wasn’t sure about me, and flew away to hide. Clever butterfly, parking beside this mottled leaf.
Tag, you’re it. Finally it posed nicely for me.
I also saw a pileated woodpecker, a deer, any number of toads and bright yellow sulphur butterflies, and a couple of caterpillars. But I’ll save the caterpillars for another post.
3 Comments
Ruth
Janet, your photos are amazing!
Amy @ Hope Is the Word
Love the photos! What key or I.d. guide do you use for butterflies?
Janet
I have a Peterson’s First Guide. It’s not exhaustive, but as you’ve said it’s easy for the kids to use. And if we can learn ten butterflies, that’s more than we knew when we started — so I don’t see the need for “exhaustive” right now.
We have Peterson’s Firsts for trees, insects, caterpillars, wildflowers, and butterflies. We have a full Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds, which was my grandmother’s book.
When I find what I think my specimen might be, I do a Google image search on the name of the species online to see photos.