An off-white Clouded Sulpher

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth

Meadow Fritillary

Orange Sulphur

Great Spangled Fritillaries

Monarch

Here it is! My first Monarch sighting this year.

Primrose Moth: Schinia florida

Whites

Above is a Mustard White butterfly upon a Wild Strawberry blossom and to the left is a picture of a Cabbage White butterfly.

Northern Crescent

I had spent more than twenty minutes or so following elusive Northern Crescents around the meadow, trying to keep one in sight while I walked in circles and backtracked many times; then just when I thought one must be at rest somewhere right ahead of me I would see it, or another, in a different location. I finally gave up and went for a walk along the railroad tracks when I saw suddendly saw one lying there in the grass alongside the roadbed. It even fluttered it wings for me. Finally, I was able to get a couple of pictures of it.

American Lady

Now this is more like it! After mentioning that I had not seen many butterflies this spring; I suddenly see a few today. This American Lady caught my eye in one of the flower beds when I was checking the area before mowing my the lawn. And it waited for me while I rushed inside to get my camera and it was still there when I returned.

Clouded Yellow, Cabbage White, Blues & Cloak

I have not noticed very many butterflies around yet this spring. Our weather has been cool and a bit rainy. Butterflies like warmth and sunshine; and so there have been very few days that I would call butterfly days. I have seen a few beautiful, yellow Common Sulphurs, along with a few Cabbage Whites. Also some small Blues have been around for several weeks now. Its sometimes a bit disappoint -ing when I can't get a full look at some of the Blues when they land as most close up their wings; like this Spring Azure shown left. However, there is a positive aspect to it, for when their wings are closed I can easily see the unique markings of each, and that helps me with their identification. The Silvery Blue offers a view of both its top and bottom layers and we can see the under markings and also the black border which indicates to us that this is a male Silvery Blue. Last weekend I noticed saw my first Canadian Tiger Swallowtail this spring. The Swallowtails are often feeding on our Lilacs at this time of year but, although the Lilacs are now in bloom, I haven't seen any Swallowtails in them as yet.

My first butterfly sighting of the year was of a Mourning Cloak in late April.