Why a blog post on butterflies in Pennsylvania, given I live an Atlantic Ocean away from there? Here's the story ...
A very dear friend of mine lives on a farm in Pennsylvania. A keen gardener, she maintains extensive gardens on her grounds. We're in frequent contact via WhatsApp and email and of course I told her about my new love for butterflies. It didn't take long for her to get hooked, and soon pictures of butterflies she saw in her garden came my way ...
For instance, monarchs are very common in her garden ...
She has four species of swallowtails (jealous!!); this is an eastern tiger swallowtail ...
And plenty more! This is a variegated fritillary ...
Her bullmastiff Jaimie is also very mindful of butterflies. As she told me, "He’s gotten so good at knowing when to stop and wait and not spook one nectaring that I’m looking at. I just say wait and he hangs back!"
Given that I was getting more and more pictures of the butterflies in her gardens, sometimes asking me what I thought the species was, I really needed a good field guide. She had already gotten a copy of this Butterflies of Pennsylvania and thought it was excellent. So I ordered my own copy.
Butterfly / dog picture credit: Riannon Walsh
No comments:
Post a Comment