A couple of butterflies today. I managed to identify one and the other I had to make into a desktop background. (It was time for a change)

White Admiral Butterfly – Limenitis arthemis arthemis

No, arthemis arthemis isn’t a typo. It’s polytypic and one of the four subspecies of the butterfly.

Since I only got one good pic of the Admiral I needed to fluff up the post with another butterfly.

Butterfly Wallpaper

Unknown Butterfly
At this point anybody’s guess is better than mine. I’m guessing it’s in the Family Pieridae and a Sulphur of some sort.

click image for 1024 x 768 version for a better look see.

I liked the way the body and the dandelion fuzzys blended together.

The range of this butterfly is global, at least in the northern hemisphere. Not able to tolerate the extreme cold they migrate to warmer areas in winter. Right now I’m hoping that the ones I photographed a couple days ago aren’t bothered by the light frost and snow of last night. (with 2 more similar nights in the forecast)

Red Admiral Butterfly – Vanessa atalanta

Red Admirals have a flight pattern more erratic than a drunken sailor’s path back to his berth. And they’re fast, I had a hard time trying to follow the few that I saw. That is until I entered a sea of Dandelions. I don’t know why but the Red Admirals there seemed ready to go down with their ship.

Yep – click for wallpaper version (I did)

The Nettle Family serves as the host for the young. Red Admiral caterpillars feed on stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) so I’ve taken a special liking to them. Stinging nettles are a noxious weed around here and anything that eats it deserves my admiration.

The adult Admirals feed on nectar as a second choice. They prefer tree sap, fermenting fruit, and bird droppings. I’m all for maple syrup and cherry liqueur but I draw the line at bird poo.

…and Spring Azure Butterflies seem to share the same season in St. Lawrence County, NY. For the second year in a row I’ve found the first bloom and butterfly on the same day. Without the blog to remind me I might not have made the connection.

Marsh Marigolds have colonized a stream flowing through a low wet area. By late summer the stream usually stops flowing but the area always remains wet.

Butterfly perched on a Marsh Marigold flower April 15, ’09. I could be wrong about the identity of the butterfly. There are others that look similar.

Spring Azure – Celastrina ladon.
As far as I know. (and what the heck do I know?)
If we were playing horse shoes I’d still have gotten points even if it wasn’t a ringer.

Today nearly every flower bud is still tight as a clenched fist but I did find one set beginning to open.

Then a fluttering of the prettiest blue you ever saw caught my attention. The up side of this butterfly’s wings is blue while the underside is more of a gray. The downside is I haven’t gotten a photograph of the butterfly’s better side, yet. Chasing after a butterfly in ankle deep muck can be challenging when you wear pull on rubber barn boots. You never know when your foot will only have a sock on it for the next step. At times it’s best not to rush things.

The butterfly only gave me the one chance to get a photo before fluttering away. I didn’t see any more but I did find my first marsh marigold flower of this year.

Marsh Marigold – Caltha palustris

My old buddy Porcuface had his head stuck where the sun don’t shine again. I though he (lets just assume, checking to make sure can be a painful experience) left home a while ago. I haven’t seen him around since Mar 18th when I found him in the same position.

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Harvested some wild leek today and forgot to keep some for myself. Guess I’ll be foraging again soon. Not tomorrow though, I’ve got rock stuff to do. So anyone local should speak up now if you want any.