Butterfly sightings

I have a personal mission. In April I participated in Coffee, Cameras and Chrysalides at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and as I perused the showcase of local butterflies, I noted the ones I want to see in person. The Buckeye and Red Admiral crossed my path last year, but this year I added these on my viewing list: a Lady, a Comma, a Question Mark, the Hairstreaks, the Dogface, and the Pipevine and Zebra Swallowtails.

Prior to visiting Lauren Levato this butterfly fluttered past me and posed for a bit.

 

Guess what, with the invasion of Red Admirals I also started spotting lighter orange wings. These turned out to be American Ladies. It took a few sightings before one actually settled down in a photographable spot, but I was thrilled to see a new (to me) creature.

Later that week, I even spotted the first Monarch of the season.

 

This Sunday, I saw another monarch glide by as I captured (I mean on camera—not in a net) a few more Ladies fluttering about.

Then, joy upon joys, a new butterfly crossed my path. I had no idea what it was but took pictures galore.

Upon examination, book perusing and googling, it’s a Comma.

I’d love to find a truly comprehensive book for butterfly identification, one that shows both underwings and the decorative top view. Have you come across any good ones?

I also see a lot of skipper/moth-types in the grass these days. It’s hard to get close to them to truly identify what they are.

Butterfly spotting is such fun! Eventually I’d like to ‘raise’ a butterfly just to watch the transformation up close. Not having a garden I don’t have a resource for caterpillars though. The opportunity will arise when it is time I’m sure.