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.