I am pretty sure this is ID'd correctly. This was shot at Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve. They are fairly common, but this is the first time I have ever seen one.

Thanks for views, comments and favs :)

The shadow looks a bit evil...the small bug in front may not be around much longer...who knew beautiful tulips could be so dangerous...

The tulips of Turkey always look gorgeous...check my blog post:

adpphotography.zenfolio.com/blog/2018/4/The-Tulips-of-turkey

bee in flight lol

no edit with a slight crop

This is a little better image of a dark morph tiger swallowtail than I posted a few days ago. Not that she was cooperative, just that she was in a better location than the other one. Perhaps she will come back today before her wings are torn and cooperate for a nice open wing shot, that would be awesome. Unfortunately, all butterfly wings take on a lot of damage and they older they are the more tears you can expect them to have. This one was perfect yesterday.

Personally I disagree with Wikipedias description (added below) where it says the dark morph is almost completely black. I believe you can see from this side view image that she has a lot of color and you can see her tiger stripes. If I get the open wing shot I am hoping for I will post it and you can see that she too has the beautiful colors like the yellow morph does. If not, I'm sure there are plenty of other open wing shots on the internet :)

From Wikipedia:

Papilio glaucus, the eastern tiger swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly native to eastern North America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States,[3] where it is common in many different habitats. It has also been found in Olüdeniz, Turkey. It flies from spring to fall, during which it produces two to three broods. Adults feed on the nectar of many species of flowers, mostly from those of the Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae families. P. glaucus has a wingspan measuring 7.9 to 14 cm (3.1 to 5.5 in). The male is yellow with four black "tiger stripes" on each forewing. Females may be either yellow or black, making them dimorphic. The yellow morph is similar to the male, but with a conspicuous band of blue spots along the hindwing, while the dark morph is almost completely black.

The green eggs are laid singly on plants of the Magnoliaceae and Rosaceae families. Young caterpillars are brown and white; older ones are green with two black, yellow, and blue eyespots on the thorax. The caterpillar will turn brown prior to pupating. It will reach a length of 5.5 centimetres (2.2 in). The chrysalis varies from a whitish color to dark brown. Hibernation occurs in this stage in locations with cold winter months.

This beautiful male showed up at the nectar bar to find a date. Foutunately for him the other potential suiters were preoccupied with other females in the yard. Therefore, success was his and away they went.

I keep trying to capture o video clip of the moment of lift off after a successful courtship. So far I have had no success in doing so.

I thought I was going to achieve my goal once but alas, there were so many suiters that the female slipped away as the guys were attempting to woo her.

If at first you don't succeed... Try, try again. And so I shall keep trying to capture the moment of lift off. It happens a lot during butterfly season. One just needs to be in the right place at the right time with the right equipment.

Have a wonderful day and happy snapping

bit faster than bees this thing is

Taken yesterday at my local nature park. It's handheld using manual focus as the reed was moving up and down due to the strong breeze and auto focus was impossible. This is a big crop (approx 50 percent)

I just love when these large butterflies visit the yard. Okay, I admit it... I love when any of the butterflies visit. Monarchs are still dominate at this point but others are starting to show up in greater numbers. So far this year I have only been able to collect two spicebush swallowtail eggs to bring in to protective custody, I may have raised and released this one and she found her way back. She left one egg and the caterpillar is munching away on bay tree leaves in protective custody.

I hope your day is delightful, happy snapping to all.

Revisiting the patch (roughly 250 sq. ft.) of bergamot growing along the trailhead at Eastgate Park, we spotted the first Eastern tiger swallowtail and the clearwing hummingbird moth we saw earlier in the week. Both of these appeared in the patch for only a few moments before disappearing from view.

Trailhead at Eastgate Park, Meridian Township, Michign

Butterflies

Ebony jewel-wing damselfly silhouette. AKA black-winged damselfly.

Apis mellifera or Honey Bee.

Without them we could go hungry. We really need to look after them!

After going through old files, I decided to work this one. It's from over five years ago. Tried different presets and textures, and settled on this. Quite happy with the results.

Thanks for views, comments and favs :)

The palamedes swallowtail is also known as the laurel swallowtail. These beauties have graced my backyard with their presence for the past several years in small numbers and only on occasion. I hope to change that this year, thanks to my local native nursery, I now have a swamp bay tree which is one of the host plants for this beautiful butterfly. The tree seems to be working to attract them more often because I have already seen more this year than I have over an entire year in the past. Hard to believe it's only March. I love the orange antenna and the neat stripped body pattern along with those amazing wings. This beauty is larger than a monarch but smaller than a tiger.

Just in case I am not able to respond to comments that are posted, I just want to say thank you for your visit, faves and comments. Have a wonderful day and happy snapping.