Tag Archives: butterflies

frog and butterfly

I joined the CAZBA last year with hopes of finding and photographing native butterflies and the first thing I learned is how difficult it is! Spotting them is the first hurtle. The largest, like Swallowtails for instance, are pretty easy but there are tiny (emphasis on TINY!) butterflies that are still a challenge for me. The experts follow the slightest movement and yesterday, the reward was a tiny (3/4ths inch) Orange Skipperling.

Yesterday’s outing was to Rackensack Canyon. The butterflies were few but seeing Canyon Tree Frogs made up for it! Click the photo for a short slideshow of my favorite images from yesterday. Identifications are under the photos.

Click Photo for Slideshow

treasure hunt

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As promised, here are more photos from Saturday’s hike in Payson. In the first photo below, look for an arrow that shows just how tiny most of the butterflies were. The outing was a real treasure hunt! If I hadn’t been with people who knew what to look for, I’m sure I would have passed right by these little guys.

Above photo has arrow indicating the size of the tiny butterfly
Above photo has arrow indicating the size of the tiny butterfly

The next photo is a close-up of what we saw.
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It was a treat to see the following caterpillar. After scouring my books and the internet, I’m guessing this is a Black Swallowtail Caterpillar. I also deduced this because we saw them on the trail. I included the only shot I got.
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Update re this black butterfly. It is a Red Spotted Admiral also called Red Spotted Purple. As for the caterpillar, I still think it’s Black Swallowtail.

Click below to go to a slideshow of my best butterfly shots. The wind made getting sharp images a challenge so it was exciting to capture what I did. I also included a few shots of some bugs and flowers. Click on the the large photos to go to the next in line. The caption identifies them. I welcome corrections!

Update: corrections have been made. Thanks Janet! 🙂

Colonel Devlin Trail Butterflies