About a year ago, a Duskywing flitted through our yard, but I was unable to photograph it. My brief study of the bug suggested it was a Dreamy, but without a photo, I never recorded it. Now, a year later, another Duskywing has appeared in our yard. Again, it didn't stay long, but I did manage to get a photo this time, and it's most surely a Dreamy Duskywing. This is the 56th species to be documented on our property.
Our first Silver-spotted Skipper has arrived on our property. This is an annual visitor to our yard and we never get tired of its company. At some point, others will show up and they'll duke it out.
Within the next several days many flowers will start to bloom on our property. Today, we had a Western and Pale Swallowtail visit one of our Lilac bushes, a Western Tailed-Blue visit our Yarrow and a pair of Juniper Hairstreaks, ssp: Rosner's, visit a flowering maple.
It's been a wet and cool Spring limiting butterfly action in our yard. A few blues and swallowtails have paid a visit, but they rarely land. Arctic Skippers have come and gone, and a couple of Tortoiseshells and Commas have also come and gone. Looking forward to a bit more sunshine and warmth in June.
Today, April 15, we had both a Compton and Milbert's Tortoiseshell visit our property.
Today, March 18, I photographed in our front yard a Hoary Comma, ssp: zephyrus. It's early spring and this is the first butterfly to appear on our property this year.
Another first for our property. Today, we were visited by a very fresh Juba Skipper. Got a nice photo of it too.
Red Admirals show up in our yard every September, like clockwork. Our buddleia blooms this time of year, and many butterflies, as well as other pollinators, are attracted to it.
On July 22, 2023, I found a Mariposa Copper crawling about near a patch of Yarrow on our property. Mariposa Copper is a first for our yard - and our 54th species to be photographed visiting our property. This species was quite unexpected as we normally find them at higher elevations.
So far, 2023 has proven to be a productive season for butterflies visiting our Nelson, BC property. Five new species have made appearances, and I managed to obtain photographs of four of them. We had an Echo Azure and a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail. Both these species are in our area, though this is the first time we've actually recorded them visiting our yard. Then we had two species show up, which were quite surprising - a female Pearl Crescent, which raises questions as to their actual range, and a gorgeous Anicia Checkerspot, which we normally find at higher elevations. We also had our first Duskywing, (Dreamy) though no photo was obtained.
