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Archive for the ‘Butterflies’ Category

Black Swallowtail in May

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 23, 2024| 3 Comments »

I spotted this beautiful Black Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The orange circle with the black dot in between the wings helps to distinguish this species from several similar-looking dark butterflies in our area.

I chased this butterfly around for quite some time before it finally stopped for a moment on this vegetation—I often get a good workout when photographing butterflies. I am quite happy with the way that I was able to capture the varying shades of green surrounding the butterfly that add a lot of visual interest to this simple composition.

Black Swallowtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Red-spotted Purple butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 15, 2024| 9 Comments »

On Monday I spotted this beautiful Red-spotted Purple butterfly (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) in a sea of ferns adjacent to a creek that I was exploring in Prince William County, Virgnia. I love the iridescent blue color on the wings and the little red spots that provide a nice accent color. Although I see a slight purplish tint to the wing on the right, I really don’t see very much purple on this butterfly’s body despite the fact that “purple” is a prominent part of the name of this species.

The color and texture of the ferns make for a beautiful backdrop for the butterfly and add a bit of visual interest without being distracting.

Red-spotted Purple

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Falcate Orangetip Butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 20, 2024| 5 Comments »

On Monday I spotted this cool little butterfly at Occoquan Regional Park in nearby Lorton, Virginia. I was a little surprised to learn that it is a Falcate Orangetip butterfly ( (Anthocharis midea), given that the butterfly has not a single visible spot of orange. Apparently only the males have the orange tips for which the species is named and this one is a female.

When I first spotted this tiny butterfly flying about, I assumed that it was a Cabbage White. However, I quickly noticed the colored pattern on the outside of the wings and realized that my initial impression were wrong—Cabbage Whites are all white except for some black spots. When I looked even closer I noticed the butterfly’s gray eyes and scallop-edged wings, unlike the Cabbage Whites that have green eyes and more even-edged wings.

Falcate Orangetip

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Henry’s Elfin Butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 17, 2024| 4 Comments »

When this little butterfly flew by me last week at Prince William Forest Park, it looked a bit like a nondescript brown moth. However, when it landed on the ground and I was able to zoom in on it, I was amazed by its variety of colors, textures, and markings. I was pretty sure that I had never seen one like this. When I returned home, I did some searching on the internet and concluded that this is a Henry’s Elfin butterfly (Callophrys henrici).

Every time I use the butterfly’s name, I smile, because there is just something whimsical about the word “elfin.” I love the idea of magical woodland creatures that blend in so well with their surroundings that you have to look carefully to spot them.

I encourage you to click on the image to see all of this creature’s wonderful markings, including the little white stripes on its antennae and legs and the beautiful scalloped edges of its wings.

Keep your eyes open today and you too may spot some magically whimsical creatures.

Henry's Elfin

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Swallowtail butterfly in March

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 26, 2024| 3 Comments »

I went on a pretty long hike yesterday in Prince William Forest Park—just over 18,000 steps (7.1 miles or 11 km) according to my iPhone—and was delighted to spot this beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus), my first of the season.

When I first spotted the butterfly, it appeared to be sucking moisture and minerals from the wet soil, as you can see in the first photo. The butterfly flew to a nearby location and resumed its efforts and I was able to maneuver around to get the second image that shows the markings of the butterfly a bit better.

Personally I prefer the first photo that is more dynamic and gives a better sense of the activity of the butterfly. From a purely scientific perspective, the second one might be preferable because it shows more of the butterfly’s identification features. I am more of an artist than a scientist, though, so capturing all of the details with clinical precision is not as important to me.

 

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Question Mark in March

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 14, 2024| 2 Comments »

Yesterday I went on a hike at Prince William Forest Park, the largest protected natural area in the Washington D.C. area at over 13,000 acres (53 square kilometers), that is located about 27 miles (43 km) from my home. Unlike the wildlife refuge that I usually visit, which is on a coastal plain, Prince William Forest Park, as its name suggests, is heavily wooded and it is quite hilly. I love to walk along the many creeks and streams that crisscross the park—the sound of the flowing water always has a therapeutic effect on me.

I was thrilled to spot this beautiful Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) as it perched on some leaves in a marshy area adjacent to one of the creeks. I could not tell for sure, but it looked like this butterfly was sipping water, possibly gathering nutrients from the soil. Question Mark butterflies and their punctuation “cousins,” the Eastern Commas, overwinter as adults, so they are among the earliest appearing butterflies in the spring.

Question Mark and Eastern Comma butterflies are quite similar in appearance. When the wings are fully open, as in the photo below, you can see a brown dash near the top of the upper wings that is not present on the wings of Eastern Comma butterflies.

Question Mark butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tiny spring butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on March 13, 2024| 2 Comments »

Yesterday I was thrilled to spot several Spring Azure butterflies (Celastrina ladon) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This early-appearing butterfly is one of the tiniest butterflies in our area, with a wing span of about an inch (25 mm). Unlike Mourning Cloak butterflies—like the I featured last week in a blog posting—that overwinter as adults, Spring Azures overwinter in the pupal form, safe inside their chrysalis.

All of the Spring Azures that I saw yesterday were extremely skittish, spending most of their time in flight. Occasionally one would fly near the ground and come close to landing and then abruptly resume its flight. When they did land, the little butterflies almost disappeared into the abundant leaf litter and were tough to photograph.

Nature is coming alive as flowering trees begin to pop and new wildlife species reappear on the scene as we move deeper into March. It won’t be long before osprey, green herons, and great egrets return to our area and I hope to be seeing dragonflies within the next month. It is an exciting time of the year.

Spring Azure

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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First butterfly of 2024

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2024| 3 Comments »

I was delighted yesterday (7 March) to spot this beautiful Mourning Cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, my first butterfly sighting of 2024. Mourning Cloaks, known as Camberwell Beauties in the Great Britain, overwinter as adults and are usually among the first butterflies to appear each spring.

Mourning Cloak butterflies, according to Wikipedia, have a lifespan of 11 to 12 months, one of the longest lifespans for any butterfly. As I noted, these butterflies spend spend the winters in us as adults, by “hiding away in cracks in rocks or holes in trees, and are able to shut down their bodies all winter long, effectively hibernating, in a manner known in insects as torpor,” according to the One Earth website.

Mourning Cloak butterflies have a distinctive look that some scientist thought looked like the traditional cloak worn in mourning. I was happy that I was able to capture the row of blue spots on the wings—another one of its identification features—in the photo of “my” butterfly.

The butterfly spent most of its time flying up and down, in and out of some trees. Eventually it perched for a moment on the ground and I was able to capture this image. It will be at least a few more weeks before I see my first dragonfly of the season, but I will soon begin to keep my eyes open for them. As many of you know, dragonflies are one of my favorite subjects to photograph and I look forward to the start of “dragonfly season” each year.

Mourning Cloak

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Common Buckeye in November

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 15, 2023| 3 Comments »

There were few insects flying last Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, so I was a bit surprised to encounter several Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) butterflies. The body color of this butterfly is pretty drab, but its markings are stunning in their beauty—I especially love its multi-colored eyespots. Wow!

I do not think that Common Buckeye butterflies overwinter in my area as adults, so I wonder if the butterflies that I observed are in the process of migrating southward. If not, then they are appearing on the scene quite late in the season, when we have already had several frosty nights. Perhaps they will hang around for a little while longer—I will keep an eye out for them on my next trips to my favorite local wildlife refuge.

Common Buckeye

 

Common Buckeye

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Sleepy Orange butterfly

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 13, 2023| 3 Comments »

Most of the insects are gone by now, so I was a bit shocked to spot this Sleepy Orange butterfly (Eurema nicippe) last Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. When I first saw it, I assumed that it was a Clouded Sulphur butterfly, a species that I photographed a few weeks ago. Upon examining my shot on my computer screen, I realized that it was an unfamiliar species, and a friend of mine who is more of an expert on butterflies helped to identify the butterfly for me.

I really like the way that the bright color of the inside of the butterfly contrasts with the brown tones of the dried leaves on which the butterfly was perched.

Sleepy Orange

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dramatic lighting

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on November 2, 2023| 4 Comments »

The sunlight coming from the back and side of this Clouded Sulphur butterfly (Colias philodice) produced a really dramatic effect in this image that I captured last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It looks almost like I had the butterfly posing for me in a photography studio, where I would have had full control over the power and direction of the light.

In situations like this, the settings on the camera are really important, because there is so much light that it threatens to blow out the highlights of the light-colored subjects. As a result, I deliberately underexposed the photo, which is why the background appears to be so dark, but I did retain a lot of the details in the butterfly and the asters.

For those of you who enjoy the geeky, technical aspects of photography, I was shooting with a Canon 7D DSLR and a Tamron 150mm-600mm telephoto zoom lens at 600m—I was using a monopod for additional stability. My camera was set to f/8.0, 1/1600 sec, and ISO 400 with negative 1.33 stops of exposure compensation.

Clouded Sulphur

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Clouded Sulphur and asters

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 24, 2023| 9 Comments »

Lots of wildflowers still in bloom as we move deeper into autumn here in Northern Virginia. Last night we had our first frost warning of the season, but I don’t think there was any frost this morning in my neighborhood—a hard frost may speed the demise of many of the remaining butterflies and dragonflies. I was therefore delighted last Thursday to spot this Clouded Sulphur butterfly (Colias philodice) feeding on the flowers of what I believe is a White Heath Aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides) plant at Huntley Meadows Park.

Although part of the butterfly is obscured by the stem and the leaves in the foreground of this image, I like the way that I was able to capture the details of the butterfly’s green eyes and its extended proboscis.

Clouded Sulphur

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Variegated Fritillary Butterfly in October

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This late in the season, most of the large butterflies seem to be gone, but I continue to see some of the smaller ones, like this beautiful Variegated Fritillary butterfly (Euptoieta claudia) that I spotted on Thursday during a visit to Huntley Meadows Park, a county-run marshland park not far from where I live. Earlier in the year I encountered some Great Spangled Fritillaries, but I think this may well be my first sighting of a Variegated Fritillary in 2023.

The butterfly appeared to be basking in the sun as it perched with its wings wide open on some dried-out vegetation. I was using my Tamron 150-600mm telephoto zoom lens, which has a minimum focusing distance of almost nine feet (270 cm), so I was pretty far from the butterfly when I captured this image. I have read reviews that state that this lens is soft when fully extended to 600mm, but I have found that I can get acceptably sharp images if I pay a lot of attention to my focusing and shooting techniques, including remaining steady—in this case I was using a monopod.

Variegated Fritillary

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Tattered autumn

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Many of the insects and plants that I now see show signs of the ravages of summer, like this damaged Common Buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia) that I spotted atop an equally damaged plant during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Nonetheless the beauty of the butterfly shines through and it appears to be fully functional.

Autumn is a time for harvest celebrations as we rejoice in the bounty of the growth that has taken place, but there is also a tinge of melancholy as we experience a sense of loss and the feeling that our lives our changing. Change, of course, is a constant in our lives, but most of us—and I definitely fit into this group—become creatures of habit and have trouble dealing with changes at times. Yet we eventually adapt and may even learn to appreciate the results of the change, even if the process of change is a bit uncomfortable.

Common Buckeye

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Feasting on goldenrold

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 11, 2023| 2 Comments »

I love bright colors and instinctively smile when I see the large patches of goldenrod that are still in bloom at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The insects seem to love these flowers too and last Tuesday I spotted a large Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and smaller Clouded Sulphur butterfly (Colias philodice) feeding on goldenrod.

Monarch

Clouded Sulphur

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Autumn Monarchs

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 28, 2023| 4 Comments »

At this time of the year, many of the butterflies that I see are showing the ravages of a long summer season. That, however, was not the case with several Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) that I spotted last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge that appeared to be in perfect condition.

Perhaps these are newly emerged Monarchs that are now preparing for a long migration flight to warmer locations.

Monarch

Monarch

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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More Monarchs in September

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 20, 2023| 1 Comment »

On Monday I was thrilled to spot multiple Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The first shot is the typical kind of shot that I usually try to take, but I really like the third image that I captured of a distant Monarch butterfly in a field of flowers—so many flowers, so little time.

Monarch butterfly

Monarch butterfly

Monarch butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Monarch in September

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 10, 2023| 4 Comments »

Certain creatures, like Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), never fail to thrill my heart when I encounter them. I remember dire warnings from my youth of their threatened extension and I consider it a real blessing that they are still around. The Bald Eagle population has really rebounded, but it is my understanding that the survival of Monarchs is still at risk as a result of the loss of Monarch breeding habitats.

I did not see any Bald Eagles during my visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge this past Thursday, but I was excited to spot this stunning Monarch butterfly. Its colors were bright and vibrant and it seemed to be in perfect condition. I suspect that this butterfly was preparing itself for its upcoming migration flight. According to an article by the National Wildlife Federation, “Beginning in late summer and continuing into early fall, monarchs that emerge from their chrysalides will be behaviorally and biologically different from generations that emerged earlier this year. Unlike their parents and grandparents, these late-season monarchs do not mate or lay eggs. Instead, the insects focus on feeding to fatten up for long migrations to their winter habitats: coastal California for monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains and central Mexico for those to the east.”

The Monarch butterfly was so focused on feeding that it did not fly away as I maneuvered into position to capture this image. I even had the luxury of attempting shots from several angles as the butterfly moved about from flower to flower.

Monarch butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Viceroy in September

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 8, 2023| 4 Comments »

On Wednesday I spotted this beautiful Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) during a short visit to Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. At one end of the refuge, there is a patch of wildflowers and I always make sure to check it out for birds, butterflies, and other insects. I am no expert on wildflowers, but I think the purple plant in the photo may be a variety of ironweed.

As you can probably tell, the Viceroy is considered to be a mimic of the somewhat larger Monarch butterfly. They are pretty easy to tell apart, however, because the Viceroy has a black line across the hind wings that is not found on the wings of Monarchs.

Viceroy

Viceroy

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Late Season Black Swallowtail

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 6, 2023| 4 Comments »

I am happy that I continue to see quite a few butterflies during my visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Summer is definitely not over yet—today’s high temperature is forecast to be 97 degrees (36 degrees C) with a heat index well above 1oo degrees (38 degrees C)—but increasingly I am seeing signs that the seasons are starting to change.

I spotted this Black Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) recently as it fed upon some kind of leafy plant. The butterfly’s “tails” were fully intact, but there seemed to be a little damage to its wings and the wings seemed to be strangely separated from its body in the first photo. I am not sure if this is normal or not.

I am trying to decide if I will venture out into the heat today, seeking some of the late season dragonflies, like the Blue-faced Meadowhawk and the Fine-lined Emerald, that emerge onto the scene in early September. If I do go out, I will be sure to bring lots of water and will stay in the shade as much as I can.

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on August 25, 2023| 4 Comments »

I was excited to spot this beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Most years I spot lots of these butterflies, but for some reason I have not seen one in quite some time this summer.

I love the beautiful coloration of this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and believe that it is a female. Males of this species are almost exclusively yellow and black, while females are more vividly colored, with strongly pronounced cells of orange and a greater degree of iridescent blue on the lower wings.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Skipper and Milkweed

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on August 7, 2023| 1 Comment »

The milkweed flowers were just beginning to open, but this Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) was already attracted to it. I spotted this butterfly, one of the only skipper butterflies that I can reliably identify, on Saturday during a short visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Usually I avoid visiting locations like this on the weekend, because they tend to be too crowded for my taste—I am a little selfish when it comes to sharing my wildlife experience with others and generally prefer a solitary pursuit.

Some other local photographers have already spotted some warblers, so I had my long 150-600mm lens on my camera when I encountered this butterfly. I am pretty happy with the amount of detail that I was able to capture with the lens fully extended—this lens has a reputation of being quite soft at the long end, but that has not generally been my experience.

Silver-spotted Skipper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Pearl Crescent in July

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 31, 2023| 4 Comments »

July is finally coming to an end, a month of endless hot, hazy, and humid days. It has been tough to get myself motivated to go out with my camera and I have been forced to keep my outings relatively short. Weather-wise autumn is my favorite time of the year, but we have a lot more summer weather to endure before the cooling temperatures of autumn arrive.

During a recent visit to Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge I was delighted to spot this Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes tharos). It was feeding in a patch of what looked to be Black-eyed Susan flowers (Rudbeckia hirta), although I must confess that I am not very good at identifying flowers, so my identification may not be accurate.

Initially the little butterfly perched with its wings only partially open, but I waited patiently and eventually it fully extended its wings and I was able to capture this image. It is a relatively simple composition, but I really like the way that it gives you a sense of the environment while also showing you the beautiful markings of the Pearl Crescent butterfly.

pearl crescent

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Great Spangled Fritillary

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on July 23, 2023| 3 Comments »

It seems like large butterflies have been more scarce than normal this summer. I was therefore thrilled to spot this Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria cybele) yesterday during a brief visit to Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. Most of the time the butterfly had its head buried in the flower, but for a brief moment the butterfly raised its head, spread its wings, and let me capture this pretty little portrait image.

Great Spangled Fritillary

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Another Monarch butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on July 15, 2023| 2 Comments »

Recently I featured some shots of a Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) feeding on some milkweed. I feared that it might be the only Monarch that I would see this year, because there have been some years in the recent past when I have not spotted a single Monarch butterfly.

I was absolutely delighted this past Wednesday when I spotted another Monarch. I was walking along one of the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge when my eyes were attracted by a flash of bright orange. I assumed incorrectly that it was “only” a Viceroy, but when I zoomed in, I could see that it was a Monarch.

I was using my long 150-600mm lens with a monopod, so I had to scramble a bit to get a good shooting angle. I was thrilled with the shot that I captured of the Monarch in action with its proboscis extended. I am not sure what kind of flower this is, but I really like the way that it was drooping a little as the butterfly perched lightly on it, helping to create a nice triangular composition.

Monarch butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First Monarch Butterfly of 2023

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 10, 2023| 7 Comments »

I was excited to spot my first Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) of the season last Friday at Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton, Virginia. The milkweed was barely in bloom, but the Monarch nonetheless seemed to be really enjoying it.

I love the beauty of the Monarch, of course, but I am also very conscious of the fact that this species is considered to be endangered, threatened by the loss of habitat and by climate change. Some years I have not seen any Monarchs at all, so each sighting is special to me, reassuring me that Monarchs are continuing to survive.

As you can see, I attempted to get shots of the Monarch, the only one that I saw that day, from varying distances. When I first spotted the Monarch, I took several long distance shots like the third one below that show some of the habitat. Then I slowly moved forward, attempting to use the milkweed in my compositions.

It was a bit of a challenge to get good shots, because the butterfly was in almost constant motion, moving all around the little clumps of milkweed and changing its wing and body positions. I had to work quickly too, fully aware that the butterfly could fly off at any moment.

Monarch butterfly

Monarch butterfly

Monarch butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Common Wood Nymph butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on July 9, 2023| 1 Comment »

I was delighted to spot this Common Wood Nymph butterfly (Cercyonis pegala) this past Wednesday at the edge of the hike-bike trail on the back side of Huntley Meadows Park, a county-run marshland park in Alexandria, Virginia. I love the distinctive yellow patch on its wing and its really cool eyes with vertical stripes. Common Wood Nymphs usually like to hang around near the edges of the woods rather than in the fields that many butterflies seem to prefer.

Generally I like to get the plane of the sensor of my camera sensor as close to parallel as possible with my subject, so that the entire subject is in focus. In this case, though, a large mass of thorny vines kept me from being able to get my desired shooting angle and consequently the focus on the left-hand side of the subject is a little soft. That being said, I am nonetheless pretty happy with this shot of a cool-looking butterfly that I don’t see very often.

Common Wood Nymph

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Butterfly and butterfly weed

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 7, 2023| 8 Comments »

It is always a joy to see butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), a bright orange species of milkweed that is full of nectar and attracts lots of butterflies. On Monday I spotted what I believe is a Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes tharos) feeding on some butterfly weed at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia. I spotted some regular milkweed earlier in the day and was hoping to see my first Monarch butterfly of the season, but, alas, I came up empty-handed this time.

I love bright colors and some of you may recall that I drive an Ignition Orange KIA Soul. I was delighted to be able to capture some of the beautiful details and color of the butterfly weed and also some details of the butterfly, including its striking eyes and extended proboscis.

Pearl Crescent

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Indoor butterflies

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged , , , , , , , on June 26, 2023| 5 Comments »

Most of the times I am outdoors when I am photographing butterflies, but occasionally I have the opportunity to visit indoor butterfly gardens. One of the cool thing about these facilities is that they often contain tropical species that are not present in my local area.

Early in June I visited Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia and spent some time in the butterfly garden in an enclosed area of the large glass conservatory. Shooting in this environment challenges my composition skills and photography techniques as I try to hold my camera steady, focus on these moving subjects, and avoid including people and man-made objects in the backgrounds of the images.

Here are a few of my favorites from my time with these butterflies, several of which perched on me while I was exploring their environment. There is a double-door system that is sort of like an air lock to try to prevent the butterflies from escaping when people enter and exit. The staff folks also carefully check you when you are leaving to ensure that no butterflies are hitching a ride on you.

butterfly

butterfly

butterfly

butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Zabulon Skipper butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on May 27, 2023| 5 Comments »

There are lots of different species of skipper butterflies in my area and it is hard for me to tell them apart. I spotted this beautiful little butterfly last Wednesday at Green Spring Gardens, just a few miles from where I live. I think that it is a Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon), although it might possibly be the similar-looking Peck’s butterfly. I’d like to say that there is a scientific reason why I chose Zabulon over Peck’s, but it really is because I think that Zabulon is the cooler name of the two—I love the exotic sound of the word “Zabulon.”

I tried to get down to eye-level with the butterfly when I photographed it so that the background would fall away into a pleasant green blur and was largely successful. I like too that I was able to capture some of the green striations in the leaf on which the butterfly is perched and those little lines help to lead the viewer’s eyes to the butterfly.

Zabulon Skipper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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White butterfly, pink flower

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged , , , , , , on May 26, 2023| 1 Comment »

This tiny Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae) paused for only a moment on a pink flower, but I managed to get a shot of it on Wednesday at Green Spring Gardens. If you look closely, you can just make out the butterfly’s stunning green eyes.

The composition of this image is pretty simple, but I think it is effective. I would have liked to blur out the background a bit more, but even though it is cluttered, it is not distracting. I think that is because the pink and white are so bright and distinctive that they “pop” against the green background.

Cabbage White

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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