Friday, May 12, 2017

Signs of Spring ...

... aka the season of rebirth.

The New Jersey state butterfly, the Black Swallowtail.


I found this individual crawling across the deck one morning as I was headed off to work. Its wings wet and heavy, incapable of flight. As it had rained overnight I wasn't sure if it was newly emerged or rain-soaked. Either way the deck was not the place for it to be.

Black Swallowtails overwinter in their chrysalis and emerge in spring, thus this could have been a brand new butterfly. The males emerge before females and stake out territories to await the arrival of the ladies.

And thus the cycle continues.


I released the butterfly onto a Elderberry bush in our garden. After a moment it settled down, clinging to a leaf. Here's hoping it survived to fly another day.

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