Cabbage Whites
Clouded Sulphurs
Red Spotted Purple
again
Eastern Tailed-Blue
Tiger Swallowtail
more
and more
Fun!
Spicebush Swallowtail
Oh, by the way, we did see the falls!
My patient friends!
Pretty country!
Friday, August 5, 2016
Dundee Falls and Butterflies
We took a short walk to Dundee Falls in the Beach City Wildlife Area (Tuscarawas County Ohio). It had rained the previous night, and the muddy gravel parking lot was full of butterflies gathering minerals from the mud. I was in heaven and no longer really cared about the waterfalls!! There were Red-Spotted Purples, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, a solitary Spicebush Swallowtail, Silver-Spotted Skippers, one Eastern Tailed Blue, Cabbage Whites, and Clouded Sulphurs. Looking through my photos, I find that they do not do justice to how exciting it was to have so many butterflies lift from the ground around me, then swirl slowly back down for more of whatever they were enjoying from the mud. Of course, the big butterflies were even more thrilling. At one point, 4-5 Eastern Tigers were all gathered in one small area. Not long enough for me to get any good photos, but still... Two Red-Spotted Purples were near each other in another section. Cabbage Whites were gathered together on a damp, rotting log. Why were certain species drawn to certain parts of the lot? I'll never know, but I do enjoy wondering...
Oh, by the way, we did see the falls!
Pretty country!
Oh, by the way, we did see the falls!
Pretty country!
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Hi Dawn, I am a student studying butterflies at graduate school. Your pics are really nice! Do you know any place near Boston where I can easily find some large swallowtail species (e.g. Eastern Tiger S )? I need to capture a few for the anatomy of their saliva gland. Thx!
ReplyDeleteBear, good luck! Everyone is saying it's a great year for Swallowtails. They are regularly being reported wherever there are good nectar sources. Shouldn't be too hard to locate.
DeleteThank you for replying to me! Are they more frequently been spotted inside the deep forest or along the border (with some open air)?
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