available daylight | Winged Beauty Butterflies

Eyed Satyr Butterfly, photographed by Jeff Zablow at Jamestown Audubon Center, NY

Barbara Ann (A”H) and I were at Clay Pond Preserve in Frewsburg, New York, near Jamestown. It was a damp, humid morning, with the sun promising to return within the hour. It was early, as we waded through the 2-foot tall pond-edge grasses and sedges. As we moved, butterflies rose up from here and there, fleeing. There were more butterflies being rustled up than I would have expected. That reassured me that on that my second trip to Clay Pond, it remained a rich, healthy wetland destination.

I noticed this form in the grass ahead, and carefully making my approach, I kneeled down to get a better look, and this is what I saw, an Eyed Brown Butterfly (Satyroydes eurydice). The available light was limited, the air was moisture saturate, and the sky remain cloudy.

Almost like those TV shows where the cops are staking out a house, before sunrise or after sunset.

Jeff

Fatal Metalmark Butterfly photographed by Jeff Zablow at the National Butterfly Center, Mission, TX

Haven’t used this image, for I continued to think that it was way too dark to see this southwestern USA butterfly, the Fatal Metalmark. It was in a shaded area, while the morning sun at the National Butterfly Center near the border wall was blocked by clouds. Add to that my built-in Canon light meter was acting up, and you have an image that I’m less than pleased with. Ouch.

This morning I had a fresh look at this photo, and realized . . . that this scintillant butterfly (with those metallic strips that readily reflect light) was, despite all, reflecting the available daylight. It’s difficult for the Fatal to play Peek-A-Bo, for with those metallic lines continuing to shine, there’s no place to run, no place to hide.

I love Metalmarks. This one is “C” for common, according to the expert Glassberg, but to enjoy it, you have to travel to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or Southern California.

Jeff