Common Ringlet - Satyre fauve
With the recent burst of hot weather here, a whole assortment of butterfly species have launched their flight season. I have a few places I like to go to see them, varied habitats from sheltered forest to open meadow. The challenge with open meadow butterflies is that they try to shelter themselves from predators - all of the habitats I visit are heavily populated by very vocal Flycatcher species, as well as Phoebes and Wood-pewees. So they operate in the deep grasses where they can, and getting close to them without flushing them is a challenge. As with migratory birds, I find I am better settling in to the location and then letting the creatures come to me.
The Ringlet is quite variable in its colouring and its markings, as like many butterfly species (and many birds) geographic differences mean different looks. The Ringlet’s orange forewing can be brighter than the butterfly in the photograph or it can be brown, and the spot can be missing altogether - as it was with some of the species I found the other day.
This butterfly is found from the Pacific to the Atlantic, but is more dispersed up and down the Pacific coast, from Alaska to Southern California. In the east, it is a narrower band, extending south into New York State from the Canadian Atlantic provinces.
Its variability, even here in the rural areas outside Ottawa, makes it fun to observe and photograph.
Common Ringlet - Satyre fauve
With the recent burst of hot weather here, a whole assortment of butterfly species have launched their flight season. I have a few places I like to go to see them, varied habitats from sheltered forest to open meadow. The challenge with open meadow butterflies is that they try to shelter themselves from predators - all of the habitats I visit are heavily populated by very vocal Flycatcher species, as well as Phoebes and Wood-pewees. So they operate in the deep grasses where they can, and getting close to them without flushing them is a challenge. As with migratory birds, I find I am better settling in to the location and then letting the creatures come to me.
The Ringlet is quite variable in its colouring and its markings, as like many butterfly species (and many birds) geographic differences mean different looks. The Ringlet’s orange forewing can be brighter than the butterfly in the photograph or it can be brown, and the spot can be missing altogether - as it was with some of the species I found the other day.
This butterfly is found from the Pacific to the Atlantic, but is more dispersed up and down the Pacific coast, from Alaska to Southern California. In the east, it is a narrower band, extending south into New York State from the Canadian Atlantic provinces.
Its variability, even here in the rural areas outside Ottawa, makes it fun to observe and photograph.