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<\/a><\/p>\nThere’s only one problem with butterfly hunting on a hot, humid summer’s day: They don’t seem to want to be out and about in the early morning when it’s still cool enough for a comfortable walk.<\/p>\n Butterflies seem to prefer to hide until nearly 11 a.m. and then they start to appear sunning on leaves and paths or seeking nectar and sap to refresh themselves. I particularly notice this when I walk along a straight path and then re-trace my steps an hour or two later. Where nothing fluttered on my first pass, suddenly the Queen Anne’s Lace, Chicory and Yarrow are alive with wings on the way home. So if you’re not seeing much, you may have to adjust when you walk.<\/p>\n I keep meeting people who say they’ve seen far fewer butterflies this year. I’ve only been looking for local butterflies for the past three years so I don’t have an opinion on whether numbers are up or down. All I can reply is that I’m seeing lots of butterflies–although perhaps I should be seeing even more.<\/p>\n I’ve also started reporting my butterflies to an online resource at eButterfly.org. Over time, these types of programs can help researchers. They may use them to find a certain type of butterfly quickly. Or they may be able to spot patterns that are useful. There seem to be some hiccups with this program (I even received an email warning me of problems) but I am using it anyway and hoping for the best.<\/p>\n Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n Join In<\/strong> It’s hard to imagine that all, or almost all, of these colourful creatures were here all winter–they were just hidden away waiting for summer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,11],"tags":[559,273,569,567,291,568,570],"class_list":["post-5123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focus","category-rambles","tag-banded-hairstreak","tag-black-swallowtail","tag-common-wood-nymph","tag-dun-skipper","tag-eastern-tailed-blue","tag-european-skipper","tag-northern-crescent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5123"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5138,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5123\/revisions\/5138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a> <\/a>
\nNorthern Crescents often perch and flap their wings open and shut.<\/em><\/p>\nWhen’s the Best Time of Day to Find Butterflies?<\/h2>\n
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\nThis Dun Skipper was a new name for me to learn.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThis Black Swallowtail refused to perch.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThis Common Wood Nymph perched on the path beside a basking bee to warm up.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nEastern Tailed Blues often rub their wings together. I wonder if it makes an interesting sound to attract partners?<\/em><\/p>\nAre There Fewer Butterflies This Year?<\/h2>\n
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\nI saw my first Monarch bombing along the grass too fast for a clear photo.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThere’s certainly no shortage of Cabbage Whites near here.<\/em><\/p>\nReport Your Butterfly Sightings to e-Butterfly.org To Help Build Some Data For Analysis<\/h2>\n
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\nBanded Hairstreaks don’t mind whether they are upright or upside down.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a>
\ne-Butterfly.org experts helped identify this as a European Skipper.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\nHave you been seeing some of your favourite butterflies this year? Please share your sightings with a comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"