You’re working the paths in the perennial gardens of Ramat Hanadiv, in Israel. It’s a wonderful time to be there, after all in March butterflies typically are fresh, not damaged by preditors, and fun to photograph.

Suddenly, in zooms just such a butterfly, Vanessa atalanta. Now we know that Red admirals can be very skittish, and usually leave within seconds of appearing. But, it’s morning, the sun is out, there is little wind and flying as much as they do requires lots of carbohydrates. End result, our Vanessa a. remains on these flowers for a long enough time for me to shoot away, and enjoy this image with upper left wings, head, antennae and proboscis.

Compare this image taken of an Israeli Vanessa a. with our images of U.S. Vanessa a.’s (click on Butterfly Types – Admiral). 6,300 miles apart and don’t they look great? Red Admirals sure are adaptable.

Jeff