On Tuesday I spotted a really cool-looking butterfly at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, a Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops). This species has distinctive reddish-orange markings across its hind and forewings. I don’t recall seeing this species very often, though I have included photographs of the butterflies in some blog postings in the past.
The Red-banded Hairstreak is quite small in size, with a wingspan of just over an inch (25 mm), so I had to focus very carefully on the butterfly to obtain a sharp image. I was pleasantly surprised by the results with my Tamron 18-400mm zoom lens that did a pretty good job in capturing a shot of such a small subject.
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Mike Powell 