Buttonbushes are now blooming at my local marsh, attracting beautiful butterflies, including this Pipevine Swallowtail and this Great Spangled Fritillary.
I don’t know what it is about the Common Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), but butterflies seem to find it irresistible. Several Pipevine Swallowtails (Battus philenor) flitted all around the bushes in frenetic motion, hardly every stopping to perch. The Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele), however, seemed to take its time, lingering over each of the spiky spherical globes of the buttonbush.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Beautiful!
Excellent shots!
Great pictures Mike! I love the angle on the last one.
Thanks. I ended up taking many, many shots from a lot of different angles, mostly depending on what the butterfly was doing. I was quite happy with the way that these turned out.
Fantastic shots..:-)
Beautiful photos. Is the Buttonbush native to our area?
I think it’s native, though I am not sure. The marshland park I visit tries to have a lot of native plants, but I know there are some invasive species too.
Amazing shots, like the last one best, such detail in the eye.
Thanks. The Great Spangled is an amazing looking butterfly (and I am glad to see that I am not the only one who enjoys looking at their eyes).
Nice to see your butterfly pictures. Our butterfly numbers are low low here in southern Illinois, low like every few days between. I figure it had to be the arctic vortex, etc. Looks like we should have some move in anytime.
Thanks. It’s nice that we finally have some butterflies. I am hoping to see Monarchs this year–they seem to have disappeared last year.
These are really beautiful photos. I haven’t seen any large butterflies yet this year, just little skippers and cabbage types.