Butterfly Stalking Season Has Begun

THE BUTTERFLIES ARE BACK!!

Sorry for shouting but I’m super excited.

We’ve had some really nice weather over the last week, perfect for dinners on the deck and enjoying beautiful spring weather.

One evening last week we were in the middle of eating dinner when I spotted a very small butterfly flitting around the yard. I stopped eating and yelled, “I’ll be back, there’s a butterfly in the yard!”.

I grabbed my camera and I was off, stalking the first butterfly of 2019.

It took a few minutes for the butterfly to land and I immediately knew it was a Red Admiral. These butterflies are small. Even when fully grown, they only have a wingspan of about 2 -3 inches.

They have distinct colors and markings, even with their wings closed.

Red Admiral Butterfly – Wings Closed

You can’t miss them with their wings open. The bright orange draws you in.

Red Admiral Butterfly – Wings Open

I love their knobby antennae, too. If you click on the following picture, you’ll get a better idea of what I’m talking about.

Red Admiral Butterfly Resting in Arborvitae

I registered the sighting with Butterflies and Moths of North America. I’m trying to be better about sharing what I observe in my yard and it only takes a couple of minutes to upload a photo and enter details about the sighting.

Finally, I also spotted an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail that was very anti-paparazzi and didn’t even pause as I chased it through the yard with my camera. While the hubs sat on the deck and shook his head.

Want to Learn More?

• My friend Kelly is an avid naturalist. She dives deeper in this Red Admiral along the Little Miami River blog post.
• Butterflies and Moths of North America is “an ambitious effort to collect, store, and share species information and occurrence data”. I think it’s worthwhile to register for an account to share your butterfly and moth sightings.