August

 

Spicebush swallowtail butterfly. 

 

    “August is the slow, gentle month that stretches out the longest across the span of a year. It yawns and lingers on with the light in its palms.” Victoria Erikson    

 

Monarch butterfly. Click to enlarge.

Spicebush Swallowtail Dance

One of the best butterfly moments of my nature-watching season this year started with this spicebush swallowtail on a buddleia flower. Click to enlarge.

A male flew into the picture.

Note the jauntily curled proboscis on this guy.

He immediately broke into a beautiful courtship flight around her, fluttering and flashing his wings. I'm sure that butterfly pheromones were flying through the air, too.

She fluttered in place, and after a few minutes, they flew out of my view together. I wish them a family of healthy caterpillars. Spicebush swallowtails are not long-distance migrators. In places with cold winters, like here, they overwinter as pupae and emerge as beautiful butterflies in spring.

Look Underneath

 

Here's an eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly with its wings spread. A lovely sight.

This is the moment to zoom in for a look under the wings at the butterfly’s body. Although the wings usually get all the praise, a butterfly's body is worth a look.

See. Snazzy stripes! Although humans don’t usually much like insect details, this might be an exception. Pretty, right? Click to enlarge. 

And it's not just tiger swallowtails. This spicebush swallowtail has  polka dots under there!

And the ever popular monarch? Polka dots again. I have a pair of pajamas like that.

So next time you are admiring a butterfly’s lovely wings — take a peek underneath. Here’s a black swallowtail — more polka dots.

Puddling Butterflies

Two of many spicebush swallowtail butterflies that I saw during a socially distanced walk in a park this week. Click to enlarge.

I was at this lovely spot in the New Jersey pine barrens.

When I noticed little dark things fluttering on the shore of the lake.

They turned out to be spicebush swallowtail butterflies congregating on the mud to suck up minerals. The behavior is called mud-puddling or just puddling. Other insects puddle, but it is conspicuous and cool when big butterflies like this do it.

They flew up when I got too close.

But settled back down again.

I love stumbling upon things like this!

So pretty.

And there were dozens more butterflies around. Sometimes you are just lucky and end up in a park on a spicebush swallowtail puddling day.

Blueberry Season

The heat and sunshine have been intense these past few weeks but that's not all bad. Some of it went into ripening New Jersey's blueberry crop. They are ready!

I went blueberry picking this week on a farm in Hammonton, New Jersey; that's the blueberry capital of the world. Click the photos to enlarge.

I came back with 12 pints of blueberries for which I paid $1.66 each.

I got a fine day out, a good deal, exercise, and...

a picnic beside Hammonton Creek, pictured here. It was lovely.

When I got home, I made blueberry jam. I'm going to try to save some until January. It is summer in a jar. 

Delicious.

The hot sunny days are also good for butterfly spotting. Here are some that I saw on berry picking day. A cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae.

A spicebush swallowtail, Papilio troilus.

A tiger swallowtail, Papilio glaucus.

And a buckeye, Junonia coenia.