Even though spring arrives slowly in fits and starts, there are definitely days that feel like it has arrived for good, and encouraging signs and harbingers. Like hearing frogs today. Or my first sighting of a bee and a butterfly this year.
Backyard Bug of the Day:
Mourning cloak butterfly. Mourning cloaks overwinter as adult butterflies, hiding in wood piles or other sheltering spots and coming out when it warms up. This one is in good shape; usually their wings look pretty battered when they emerge in the spring. I had to take this picture with my phone because I was out in the woods doing trail work and building stairs out of stone, and it wasn't the kind of activity that is conducive to having a camera around. I was working on digging a spot for a stair when I saw this flutter down to the ground from nearby. Mourning cloaks rarely let me get close enough for a good picture, and this one was no exception. This picture was taken with my phone camera zoomed in, and when I tried to get closer it flew away. Still, I was thrilled to see it.
I didn't get a picture of the bee that I saw; it was on the trunk of a tree and flew away only about a moment after I spotted it. I was thrilled to see it, too.
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