July butterflies from the garden...

With the recent few days of warm weather I kept an eye out for butterflies and I was able to get some photos of about 5 different species. While none of the photographed subjects were Skippers, I was pleased to get both a Comma and Question Mark. The first image (above), is of a female Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes.

This second image, is another in the Swallowtail family, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail papilio glaucus. This also appears to be a female. It was a bit worn as you can see from the image.

This was a poor shot; the conditions were not right and I had to take the shot before the butterfly took flight. It was windy and by pure luck I saw this guy fly into the garden. This is an Eastern Comma Butterfly Polygonia comma.

This butterfly required a lot of patience as it was very jumpy and hard to approach. When I got the look that I wanted, I realized that this was the 4th specie for the day. I was able to get off a couple of decent shots. This is a Question Mark Butterfly Polygonia interrogationis; one that I do not usually see in the garden.


This I believe to be a Summer Azure. Another active candidate that required a lot of patience to get a somewhat decent photograph. There was also a Monarch present, but I could not get close for a shot. Hopefully, I'll have more butterfly shots of different species to report on soon.