Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

First Butterfly Of The Season

Spring has officially sprung with the arrival of the first Eastern Comma butterfly (Polygonia comma).  I was excited to find this little guy at Fenner Nature Center last night.  I surmised with the warm weather yesterday that I might encounter a Mourning Cloak butterfly, one of the earliest emerging butterflies in Michigan, but I never saw one.  This was one was a welcome sight, nonetheless!

Lots Of Yellow & Green

Freshly Emerged Butterfly

A couple weeks ago, I brought home a very big Monarch Butterfly caterpillar that I realized was close to starting its metamorphosis.  The day after I brought it home, it had already changed into its chrysalis and started the process of becoming a butterfly.  A few days ago, I arrived home to a freshly emerged butterfly.  Its wings were fully unfurled, so it had changed probably midday when we were at work.  I moved it out to one of our cone flowers.  Within a few minutes, it had flitted off to start its new life elsewhere.

Up North Critters

 

Thistles

The thistles have begun to bloom this summer.  I have always liked these interesting plant that are both dangerous looking and beautiful at the same time.  I had to run to Home Depot on Waverly Road the other night and I stopped at Woldumar Nature Center for a few minutes.  A thunderstorm was brewing on the horizon and it had started to get dark pretty quickly, even thought it was only 5:30pm.  I snapped the few photos that I could as the heavy drops of rain that precede a downpour started to fall.  I fortuitously captured the photo below with the profile of the thistles against the darkening stormy skies, though I typically would not have taken a photo like this.  I made it safely back to the car right before the clouds opened up and the deluge began.