Posts in Category: butterfly
Viceroy on the Kennebunk Plains
Viceroy Butterfly, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, ME
When I left the house yesterday on my photoprowl, I was thinking of butterflies, wondering if I could find any on the Kennebunk Plains. Often when the Blazing Star is in bloom, there are butterflies nectaring on the blossoms. When I got to the Plains, it did not look likely as the wind was blowing a gale. I did see a few butterflies. This one was sheltering in the lee of a small birch sapling, low to the ground. Photography was difficult because the tree branches were bouncing around in the wind so hard that it shook the butterfly off several times. I, of course, assumed it was a Monarch, until I came to post it, when I thought I had better make sure it was not a Viceroy…and, of course, it appears to indeed be a Viceroy. 🙂 The black intersecting line on the hindwings is the give away.
This is a composite image, assembled from three separate shots in Coolage. Sony HX90V at 720mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 200 @ f6.4. Processed in Lightroom.
Early Northern Blazing Star. Happy Sunday!
Northern Blazing Star with Skipper, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, ME
I have never seen the Kennebunk Plains so thick with Northern Blazing Star. The budded plants are everywhere, in thick stands this year. By the first week in August, the second at the latest, the Plains are going to be purple with Blazing Star. Right now, there are only a few plants here and there in bloom, but the promise is there, and barring any unnatural disaster, it is going to be a very good year for Blazing Star. Of course, the Kennebunk Plains are managed, at least in part, for Blazing Star, which is endangered in much of its historical range, and only has the one major foothold left in Maine. Blazing Star is fire dependent, and patterned and scheduled burns on the Plains keep the population healthy.
And, when the Blazing Star is in bloom, it draws its compliment of insects. Bees of several species, lots of Skippers (like the one captured above, which might be the Least Skipper), Hairstreaks (mostly Coral), Swallowtail and Monarch butterflies, and lots of orb weaver spiders. The Halloween Pennant dragonfly hunts among the the other bugs. And the insects draw the birds: Clay-collared and Grasshopper Sparrow, Upland Sandpiper, (all at the limits of their range on the Plains), as well as Savannah and Song Sparrows. The Blazing Star is the base plant, or the most visible member, for a whole community of life…and because it is so beautiful, and so visible, protecting it has protected the whole community. This is good!
I feel privileged to live so close to the remnant population of Blazing Star…to track it year to year in my informal visits to the Plains, and to share it with you in my photos. Being on the Plains when the Northern Blazing Star is in bloom is, for me, a spiritual experience…a instance of natural, spontaneous, worship. Though the Plains buzz with life in August, and hundreds of people come to pick blueberries, for me there is always a hush…a reverence in the presence of the stands of this rare and beautiful plant. It is awesome in the literal sense of the word. I feel the awe, and can only give praise and thanks. Happy Sunday!
Great Spangled Fritillary!
Great Spangled Fritillary, Emmon’s Preserve. Kennenbunkport Land Conservancy.
You just have to love the name! Great Spangled Fritilllary! Great Spangled! (And then, of course, there is the issue of remembering how to spell fritillary…or is it frittilary? I always have to Google it to be sure.) There were dozens of Great Spangled Fritillarys in the fields at Emmon’s Preserve in Kennebunkport yesterday…doing their thing…which is fritting. They frit constantly, often never coming to full rest while in sight. You get the occasional bug, like this one, who is apparently nectaring, and therefore lighting on the Knapweed, at least for a few seconds. This bug turned and showed me all sides. This composite image shows both the Greatness of the wings, and the Spangles on the underside…or is great spangles on the back?
Nikon P900 at 500mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 220 @ f5. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Black Swallowtail! Happy Sunday.
Black Swallowtail on Honeysuckle, Timber Point Trail, Rachel Carson NWR, Biddeford ME
Yesterday I made my first pilgrimage of the year to the Timber Point / Timber Island section of Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge just south of Bidderford Pool. You might remember that I highlighted this is a new addition to the Wildlife Refuge in a few posts last fall. They only made a decision on how to use the property in the early winter, after the predictable period of study, recommendations, public comment, (the expected bit of controversy), etc. The property includes an large building, formerly a guest lodge, and the NWR system does not have the funds to renovate it for use. They have decided to bring only the exterior up to code, and post “interpretative personnel” there for an expanded range of activities and programs during the season…the minimalist approach. We will see how that goes. The property consists of the tip of a rocky peninsula leading out to low-tide-only crossing to Timber Island. Both the headland and the island are rocky outcrops, with lots of big boulders. On the mainland much of this is covered by a mature oak forest, with some open fields and old ornamental trees right along the water. On the inland side of the trail/access road there is an extensive fresh water marsh. Timber Island was pretty much clear cut, and is now home to a dense thicket of pine and bramble, with some fresh water marsh. All in all, a prime piece of habitat for birds and mammals and bugs, and a great addition to the NWR system!
It is not very big and you can explore the accessible parts on the point in a couple of hours. If you time your visit for low tide, you can cross to Timber Island and do a loop around the rocky shore and the edge of the pine forest. That will add at least an hour to your visit. It is not the most exiting place in the world, but I have only been there 4 times now, and on each visit I have had at least one significant sighting…and it is a great place to get out and walk. The highlight of yesterday’s visit might have been this male Black Swallowtail butterfly, caught sipping from the Honeysuckle that lines the trail in open areas most of the way down the point. The Black Swallowtail is a common butterfly over much of North America, but certainly a beautiful bug. This panel shows off both top and bottom views of the wing patterns. The Black Swallowtail is a partial mimic of the Spicebush Swallowtail…a poisonous cousin…the female on both upper and lower surfaces…the male only on the under-wings. This mimicry, apparently, provides the much more common Black with a measure of protection from predators.
As with the puddling Tiger Swallowtails I posted last Monday, this was a particularly fresh male, probably only emerged a few days to a week ago. It showed little wear on the wings and both “tails” were intact. I rarely see them in this kind of pristine condition. 🙂
Nikon P900 at 800mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 125 @ f5.6. Processed and cropped in Lightroom. Assembled in Coolage.
Many of us (humans) have a fascination with butterflies. The beauty and delicacy of the wings…the slow dancing flight…make them the angels of the bug world…so much so that most people do not really think of them as insects, and if they do, they don’t think of them the same way they think of other insects. Butterfly collecting is not what it once was…due partially to ecological awareness…and perhaps more to the advent of the digital camera and lenses long enough to photograph butterflies in the field and field guides to “butterflies through binoculars”…but a “butterfly house” is still a major attraction for any zoo or park. Many of the birders I know now will now confess to being butterfliers too. We love our butterflies. One of the new features of Timber Point this year, in fact, is several large plantings of “Monarch” habitat along the trail, with signs for protection. The Monarch, you might know, is a long distant migrant butterfly that is in serious decline due to habitat (host plant) loss. There is not much there yet, on Timber Point, but I assume they are Milkweed plantings, since Milkweed is the host plant of the Monarch. They have even brought in a portable pump to make sure the Milkweed gets a good start this year.
And of course, conservation and restoration is the most sincere expression of love. Love that does not “take care” of what it loves is not love at all. We respond to the love of the creator not because we are created, but because we are cared for…and we experience, once aware, that care in every moment of our lives. And of course, the creator cares for the butterflies too. We are uniquely privileged, when we take an hand in conservation and restoration, to share that care. What a gift! Happy Sunday.
Mud Puddling Swallowtails
Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies, West Kennebunk ME, Puddling.
Our extended family had a Memorial Day cookout at my sister-in-law’s home across town from us yesterday. When we drove in, I immediately saw some butterfly action on her freshly seeded front lawn. It was hard to miss. Three bright, fresh Tiger Swallowtails were mud puddling on an otherwise undistinguished spot of soil. As you see from the photo it was moist but not wet. Given puddling behavior of butterflies in general, it is safe to say these, and several others I saw on the spot over 15 minutes, were all males. And again, given the situation at my in-laws, it is safe to say that their cat had chosen this exact spot to urinate sometime earlier that day. Male butterflies are attracted to the soil salts in damp earth. They drink the fluids and force them rapidly though their bodies extracting minerals which they then, at least in some cases, excrete during mating with the female and present as a gift. The processes seems to increase an individual male’s reproductive success, and the minerals may help in sperm production. The male’s gift might be his way of saying “Look how salty my sperm is! Good stuff here!” No one knows for sure. Urine, of course, is particularly high in sodium and ammonia, both of which are prized by male butterflies. And since the puddling area was so restricted here, and I doubt anyone else in the household was out on the front lawn that morning releaving his or her self, I do suspect the cat 🙂
That is probably more than you really wanted to know about these beautiful butterflies. They were all about as fresh and bright as I have ever seen. I suspect they were no more than a few days old. Even-so, at least one had a large section of that bright hindwing, including the tail on that side, missing, probably due to an encounter with a bird…though I can not rule out the cat on that front either.
Nikon P900 at 550mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ f5 @ ISO 100. Processed in Lightroom.
Glasswing Butterfly
Glasswing Butterfly, De Fortuna Forest Reserve, Panama
One of the reasons the Tranquilo Bay Lodge experience is so wonderful, is that you can take a boat to the mainland, and be in Cloud Forest in less than an hour from the dock, on good roads (no long hikes up mountains required!) This gives access to a whole new set of species. These are Glasswing Butterflies. In my casual research this morning I found two possible English Names. Banded Peacock and Blue Transparent. I am not sure which species it is, or, indeed, if those are the same species by two different names. Banded Peacock seems unlikely as that is the name of another butterfly already. ??
Nikon P900 at 400mm equivalent field of view. 1/80th @ ISO 400 @ f5. Processed in Topaz Denoise and Lightroom.
Blue Morpho
Blue Morpho Butterfly, Bocas del Toro, Panama. Tranquilo Bay Lodge excursion
Yesterday Jim and Alvero from Tranquilo Bay Lodge took me across to the mainland to explore an old banana canal and river by boat. The canal passes mostly through forest and is a rich habitat for all kinds of birds and wildlife. Unfortunately the mouth of the river had been blocked by floating vegetation (Water Hyacinth) so we did not get to the ducks, waders, River Otter, etc., but this butterfly alone would have been worth the trip.
There are several species of Blue Morpho butterfly, varying in size from 3 inches to 8. This one appeared to be in 6 inch range. If you have ever seen a Blue Morpho, it is an unforgettable sight. They have, as noted, huge bright blue wings, and they fly with the slowest possible wing-beats…appearing to float lazily over the low vegetation, just about never lighting. And when they do light, they close their wings to show a brown cryptic pattern with just a touch of blue showing at the wingtips. It is so rare to see one perched open like this…so very rare…that I feel incredibly blessed to have been in the right spot at the right moment. Most of the open wing shots you do see are posed at a Butterfly House…this is a wild, free-flying Blue Morpho! How great is that?
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/200th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Topaz Denoise and Lightroom on my Surface Pro tablet.
Comma in New Mexico
Comma Butterfly, Randell Davies Audubon Sanctuary, Santa Fe NM
I know, there is no comma in New Mexico, but I mentioned in the Mourning Cloak post a few days ago that we had also seen a Comma / Question Mark butterfly up Bear Canyon at the Randell Davies Audubon Sanctuary, but I was not sure which one. The distinguishing feature is a small mark on the back of the wing, and it certainly takes some imagination even then (or it does for me). However, in researching a bit last week I found that you can reliably distinguish Comma form Question Mark from above. This is definitely a Comma. It has the heavily fringed wings and the correct pattern of dots and dashes on the fore-wing. I think, actually, that makes it my first Comma, and certainly an unexpected butterfly for canyon high above Santa Fe, New Mexico in March.
Sony HX400V at 1200mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 80 @ f6.3. Processed and cropped for scale in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
Mourning Cloak
Mourning Cloak, Bear Canyon, Randell Davies Audubon Sanctuary, Santa Fe NM
Carol and I did some hiking yesterday morning while waiting for Anna to get out of work. We hiked the trail at Santa Fe Canyon Preserve (Nature Conservancy) and then the trail at the Randell Davies Audubon Sanctuary. It was a wonderful morning with good birds, wonderful scenery, and some interesting history of the Santa Fe watershed. At Randell Davies we took the short extension up Bear Canyon. I don’t know what I expected, but I certainly was not expecting butterflies on this brisk March morning with patches of snow still on the trail in the mountains of Santa Fe. Yet, as we reached the end of the maintained trail in Bear Canyon, high up among the Ponderosa Pines, a Western Tiger Swallowtail came up off the ground by the stream and went high into the trees (as they will do). Then, a few yards beyond, a Mourning Cloak (the one in the pic) came floating down above the stream. It eventually landed so I could get some shots. Finally, either a Comma or a Question Mark (I did not get a shot of the closed wings so I can not say which it was) followed the same route down the stream. We saw the same, or additional, Mourning Cloaks further down the main trail. Butterflies!
Sony HX400V at 1200mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 125 @ f6.3. Processed and cropped slightly for scale in Lightroom.
Tiger Heliconian
Tiger Heliconian. Cuero y Salada Wildlife Refuge, Honduras
There are apparently several of these orange and black long-wings possible in Central America, but I am pretty sure this is, indeed, the Tiger Heliconian…pretty sure because the name seems to be applied to several different species. This shot was at the visitor center after our boat exploration of the junction of the Cuero and Salado rivers a few hundred yards inland from the Caribbean sea. It is a great habitat for birds…mangroves and huge trees lining quiet waters. The visitor center has a small yard and garden and I chased the Heliconian down among the flowers.
Sony HX400V at just over 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/800th @ ISO 640 @ f5.6. Processed and cropped for scale and composition in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.