This past Saturday I visited Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in nearby Vienna, Virginia with several photographer friends and was pleasantly surprised to see that a lot of flowers are still in bloom. Those flowers kept the bees busy as well as an assortment of small butterflies, including this Variegated Fritillary butterfly (Euptoieta claudia).
This is a species that I do not see very often, so I was happy to capture a mostly unobstructed shot of it when it opened its wings—I am more used to seeing the somewhat similar Great Spangled Fritillary.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Good shot. They are more frustrating than the small birds.
Wow, Ted, that’s quite a statement coming from you, given that you are not. huge fan of the little birds. 🙂
😂😂, I think you can’t find anything more random in flight than a Butterfly.
Very nice image Mike! Enjoyed seeing it!
Beautiful
We usually encountered these among groups of the brighter Gulf Fritillaries. I love the wing design, of course, and the underside is like stained glass perfection.
Great photo, Mike. I like the composition.
Thanks, Dan.