Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Butterflies for Megan

On a recent birding exposition we saw more butterflies than birds - and I have no idea what most of them are - but I'm sure Megan does. So Megan, these are for you.

I actually took this picture in our back yard. This pretty little guy likes our Bottle Brush bush.

Butterflies are difficult to photograph as they rarely sit still.

I love the way this Long-tailed Skipper blends with the background of dried leaves.

This must be some kind of Swallowtail.

We have lots of Bluebirds here in Florida - and I loved the way this one looked with the bright red berries.

We also have our share of spiders. Bill was giving this big boy (he was HUGE) a closer look.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler - fairly common around here.

This is the first Eastern Towhee I've seen this year. He was off in the distance - but identification is easy with his distinctive markings.

1 comment:

Megan Brogan said...

Thanks so much for posting these! The first one I agree is a sulphur (family Pieridae), possibly an Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme).The second is a Brush-footed butterfly (family Nymphalidae), related to Monarchs. His ġeolurēad color leads me to believe he is the perfect specimen of a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae). The last butterfly is most certainly a Swallowtail, probably a Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes). It’s a well known fact I love spiders even more than butterflies, and this Black and yellow argiope spider, (Argiope aurantia) hasn’t gotten around to spinning her trademark zig zag just yet. Maybe she is awaiting the departure of her audience. Great shots!