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July butterflies from the garden... With the recent few days of warm weather I kept an eye out for butterflies and I was able to get some photos of about 5 different species. While none of the photographed subjects were Skippers, I was pleased to get both a Comma and Question Mark. The first image (above), is of a female Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes. This second image, is another in the Swallowtail family, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail papilio glaucus. This also appears to be a female. It was a bit worn as you can see from the image. This was a poor shot; the conditions were not right and I had to take the shot before the butterfly took flight. It was windy and by pure luck I saw this guy fly into the garden. This is an Eastern Comma Butterfly Polygonia comma. This butterfly required a lot of patience as it was very jumpy and hard to approach. When I got the look that I wanted, I realized that this was the 4th specie for the day. I was able to get off a couple of decent shots. This is a Question Mark Butterfly Polygonia interrogationis; one that I do not usually see in the garden. This I believe to be a Summer Azure. Another active candidate that required a lot of patience to get a somewhat decent photograph. There was also a Monarch present, but I could not get close for a shot. Hopefully, I'll have more butterfly shots of different species to report on soon. Posted by BIRDINGDUDE at 9:06 PM 
Oh, I love these! We normally have TONS of swallowtails....not too many this year for some reason.

July 26, 2009 at 8:58 AM 
Nice photos of the butterflies, (as always).

July 26, 2009 at 7:54 PM 

July 26, 2009 at 9:14 PM Hi Kerri - thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment. Butterfly numbers are down this year, mostly attributed to the weather (rain). We are still hoping that if the rainy days subsides, we might see the numbers increasing.

July 27, 2009 at 9:51 AM @Nancy - thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment and a nice one at that :). I am glad you like the photos. Butterfly photos require a lot of work, so I like when I could practice in the garden.

July 27, 2009 at 9:54 AM @Dawn - thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Lot of work to get decent shots.

July 27, 2009 at 9:55 AM