First Butterflies of the Year

Look closely for the ?

Blood Root

Question Mark

Mourning Cloak

Saturday found us returning to Shenk's Ferry - one must visit frequently in order to catch most of the excitement. My goal is 2 times a week - If we lived closer in would be every day.

On Saturday 3/20/10 we celebrated the first official day of spring by spotting our first butterflies of the season. The angle wings are first to appear because they winter as adults in a hibernation like state - protected in a hiding place usually under the bark of a tree. As soon as the air warms they come out to feed. Their spring source of nutrition is sap and they send their day flying to and from trees that are "bleeding" sap. Three angle-wings abundant in our area are the Mourning Cloak, The Comma, and the Question Mark. See my pics taken on 3/20/10 to see two of these and also why the question mark bears such an unusual name.

We were looking for one of my favorite wild flowers - Blood Root - it was not along the path so I assumed we were too early but on our way out of the glenn we saw several hundred blossoms on a sunny hill side. Don't miss spring - get out there.