Tag Archives: pollinate

The Official Memorial Day Butterfly . . . My Vote?

Posted
Filed under Admiral, Flowers Loved by Butterflies, Native Plants and Flowers, Raccoon Creek State Park, PA

ZablowButt_First60-26_Lrge

Today is Memorial (Decoration) Day 2016. Many of the interactions I’m seeing are very touching and some are tinged with downright sadness. Many have lost loved ones, who fought with their own blood and life to keep us free. They taught us that in PS 244 in Brooklyn. It stuck. My Dad served in WWII. I served in a 155mm artillery unit in the NYARNG.

As my thoughts circle the gravity of this Day, I remember something I often concentrate on when I’m shooting in the field. I remember several times a year that I want to get a better shot of the underside (ventral) of the wings of Red Admiral butterflies. Opps have been elusive, but I am wired to be on the lookout for more and better.

Why? Because that Red, White and Blue that you see here reminds me of our American flag, which I have alway admired. Red Admirals are fast and wary, and I keep seeking to best this image, which must do . . . for now.

Jeff

NB, This one was nectaring with 100% concentration on Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). This year I have about 40 of those Monarch hostplants in my own garden. It’s easy, and it’s so giving, to butterflies, moths, flies, bees . . . and more.

Carolina Satyr at the Briar Patch

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Filed under Eatonton, GA, Satyr

Carolina Satyr Butterfly photographed by Jeff Zablow in the Briar Patch Habitat in Eatonton, GA

Elusive is the only way to describe this tiny little Satyr butterfly. Deciding that you want good images of Carolina Satyrs (Hermeuptychia Sosybius) and capturing same, may take a day, or days, or weeks. Trust me on this.

A couple of Carolina Satyrs resided in the tree line abutting the Butterflies and Bloom in the Briar Patch (Eatonton, Georgia). Others ventured into the sun dappled undergrowth of the Briar Patch’s perennial beds. Shooting them required getting down on my left knee pad, staked out at flowers that I know are attractive to them.

Regulars on the blog know I have a thing for satyrs; with their rich chocolate browns and eyespots. Carolinas sport especially pretty eyespots, and that’s reason numbers 1-3 for my choice of this photo.  Beyond that, I have my favorites among the Satyrs, and Carolina Satyrs in the Briar Patch are near the top of my list.

I find that I prefer woodland habitats from West Virginia traveling south to the tip of the Florida peninsula.

Jeff