Do you associate certain colors with certain seasons? For me, yellow is definitely a springtime color. After months of winter weather dominated by shades of gray and a palette of faded colors, spring explodes with bright colors, with yellow daffodils popping up all over the place. Usually I have to wait a bit longer for yellow to pop up in the birds and insects that I enjoy photographing.
As I was exploring with my camera this week, I ran across bright yellow subjects in two very different locations. One, a Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) was quite appropriately perched high in a pine tree. The second was an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) that appeared to be probing the sand on the bank of a forest creek. I suspect that the butterfly needed the minerals and salts, although I confess to initially thinking that butterflies needed only nectar from flowers for sustenance (and there were definitely no flower in the area of that creek).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
The first time I saw a butterfly doing that, I had no idea what it was up to. Since then, I’ve learned it’s called ‘puddling’ or ‘mud-puddling,’ and you’re exactly right that it’s a way to gain needed nutrients.
I tend to associate that behavior with certain butterfly species and not the ones I am used to seeing on flowers. I remember too the first time I saw a butterfly perching on animal droppings and I was told that was also for the nutrients.
beautiful post mike
Thanks. It’s a little unusual for me to put together two disparate species in a post, but decided on the spur of the moment to do so today.
you done a great job
Yellow or “lellow” as Benjamin used to say, and still does jokingly on occasion, is a happy color and just makes one smile whenever observed in nature. Just a few minutes ago, I was smiling at my Forsythia bush in its yellow blooms and all the wild ones blooming on the hill behind the house. These lovely photos of a bird and a butterfly go together well in your post, a delightful hello to yellow! Thank-you, one can never smile too much. P.S. Benjamin has not been here for several days and I have been saving the previous three posts for him. Would you care to guess which will be his favorite?
The dragonfly?
Ah, the joys of spring color! Even though our winter is shorter than yours it is still is a grand feeling to get out and see the color changes.
Yellow is a happy color – lovely photos today… my favorite is the Pine Warbler! Such a bright yellow! 😃
Spring and yellow! Now you just need some macro shots of daffodils 😁
I think we may be done with the daffodils, alas, and have moved on to tulips. I’ll see what I can find. 🙂
The pine warbler is a cheerful little chappie and looks perfect in the needle foliage!
Thanks, Liz. It was quite a challenge trying to shoot almost straight up when I spotted the bright yellow color or the bird amidst all of the pine needles.