Mourning Cloak
I was taking pictures of wild cherry blossoms when suddenly this butterfly appeared and sat on the very blossoms I was photographing. It stayed sipping for a few seconds then took off out of my range.
I noticed it was looking somewhat tattered. These butteries hibernate overwinter in the cracks of trees and can survive below freezing temperatures. This one is likely one of these.
From one web source, Nature North: "Adult mourning cloak butterflies emerge from their winter hibernation and seek each other out for mating in the spring. In forested habitats, males will perch in sunny glades and wait for females to flutter by. After a brief aerial courtship the pair will mate. The females lay bunches of eggs (30-50?) together on a single tree or shrub, in a mass that surrounds a twig. The butterflies probably die soon after mating and egg laying, having spent as much as 10 months as adults, a long life for a butterfly."
Image taken in Torbay NL
Mourning Cloak
I was taking pictures of wild cherry blossoms when suddenly this butterfly appeared and sat on the very blossoms I was photographing. It stayed sipping for a few seconds then took off out of my range.
I noticed it was looking somewhat tattered. These butteries hibernate overwinter in the cracks of trees and can survive below freezing temperatures. This one is likely one of these.
From one web source, Nature North: "Adult mourning cloak butterflies emerge from their winter hibernation and seek each other out for mating in the spring. In forested habitats, males will perch in sunny glades and wait for females to flutter by. After a brief aerial courtship the pair will mate. The females lay bunches of eggs (30-50?) together on a single tree or shrub, in a mass that surrounds a twig. The butterflies probably die soon after mating and egg laying, having spent as much as 10 months as adults, a long life for a butterfly."
Image taken in Torbay NL