I went out the back door to enjoy the sunshine and relatively warm temperatures--around 50, I think, but it felt warmer. Before I got a few paces out the door to put some peanuts out for the chickadees (and anyone else that wanted some), I noticed a butterfly on the cuff of my jeans! Had it not landed there, I'd probably have missed it flying by.
Too bad I didn't get a shot of it on my jeans, but I did get a couple of shots once it landed on the side of the house. It is past mid-November and I'm still seeing butterflies. I'm loving it. With enough sun and critter visits, maybe winter won't feel so long.
2 comments:
These Commas (Polygonia sp.) pop-up at the strangest times. The adults overwinter hiding in leaf litter, wood piles, and the like. If you get any warm weeks in mid-winter you may see one flying around and they'll be amongst the earliest of the spring butterflies. The species are very similar and you usually need to see the underside of the wings for a species id.
Nice garden blog.
Thanks for the comment, Dave. :)
I *thought* it was a comma or a question mark, but I've yet to become very confident with butterfly IDs. Someone on Wildlife Gardeners said they were just going to call all butterflies that they didn't recognize "question marks". ;)
I have a good bit of leaf litter in various spots, so hopefully they'll have no trouble overwintering and the population will increase in the coming years. Seeing one on a warm, mid-winter day would be pretty wild.
Thank you for the compliment.
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