Monarchs are here, monarchs are here! (And others.)

[wfooshee]

Late October/early November is when some of the wildflowers bloom around here, and by the most remarkable coincidence, the place fills up with butterflies on their migrations. Here's a few shots from this past Sunday, November 4th. It was quite breezy, so a lot of my shots just evaporated as I was framing them, as the flower blew out of the frame in a gust, or the insect siomply gave up trying to hold on.

The monarchs almost always fold their wings as they nectarize, so getting good full-on shots of the tops of the wings requires patience. Shots like this are easy!


Almost.....


Caught a bumblebee flying past. How's that for a million-in-one shot?


There we are!!! Full-on wings shot.


This is a Painted Lady




Narrow ecape from a predator?


Found another bee


Buckeye


Esmaralda Longtail


Some of these are migratory (monarchs) but the buckeyes are year-round. Not sure about painted ladies, actually.

[emiles]

All of the shots are amazing, however my favorite is that last one. The contrast between flowers and butterfly are simply fantastic!