Thursday, May 26, 2011

Mostly butterflies and flowers

It was hot and muggy in the woods this afternoon (by Connecticut's standards, anyway), but the flowers and insects sure didn't seem to mind!

The butterflies were out in abundance -- I stood in a single spot and saw at least three different species flitting around. There was this Spicebush Swallowtail:


A Red Admiral:


And a small group of what I think were Pearl Crescents, with the undersides of their wings just as beautiful as the tops:



And a bunch of these grasshoppers (I don't know the exact species) buzzed around my feet every time I took a step:


It was a good day for flowers as well. The Pearl Crescent in the pictures above is on a blackberry flower, and these flowers nearby look to be some sort of raspberry:


This funky plant is Indian Cucumber Root -- its flowers are quite small and easy to overlook, with green petals blending in with the rest of the forest floor, but I think they're rather beautiful (the second picture gives a closer view):



Finally, this stand of Harlequin Blueflag (Iris versicolor) growing on the water's edge was producing some stunning flowers:


And with that, I'm off on another adventure! Tomorrow we leave for New Jersey, and from there it's Copenhagen for a day and Norway for five. So I won't be making any posts for about a week -- but I imagine I will have things to share when I return! :D

1 comment:

  1. Beautiful butterflies! The Indian Cucumber root is very handsome! It is relatively easy to locate plants with showy flowers, so much much more of a challenge to see tiny or camouflaged ones. It's great being able to compare notes and learn new things from your posts. Thanks. Have a great trip!

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