More butterflies!
As I was sitting in my office, promising myself that I would get some work done, I started looking out the window at the very blue skies. I drifted into thinking about those two pretty Swallowtails from earlier in the day. Next I’m noticing the late-afternoon angle of light which I know from experience will bounce off the pond and back light the butterflies, should they be there. Before you know it, I started flirting with the idea of returning. The voices in my head started shouting: Go, the lighting is great and they might still be there. Stay, you have work to do. You were already there today. Get a jump on Monday’s work. Go. Look at the lighting. No! Stay. You have things to do.
While my brain was mulling over these things, I hopped onto video with Derry, telling him my dilemma of do I stay or do I go. And, here’s one of the many reasons why he is the best partner: He says, “Go!”
I returned to my favorite spot, and nothing. I waited, and nothing. I walked around to a few other spots, and nothing. I returned to my favorite spot, sat on the grass for a while when finally one Swallowtail swooped in. But that’s all I needed. Once again I was climbing around some rocks, trying not to fall into the water, just so I could photograph the bugger. There are a couple low bushes that I am always mentally willing butterflies to land on (like they’ll listen). In that area, the light reflects off of the nearby pond which tends to make interesting backgrounds. It’s a hard place to photograph as I don’t want to trample on any part of the bushes to get the angle I want. I patiently waited as my butterfly was fluttering from one flower to the next and then taking off into the sky to make its huge loop before returning. He didn’t stay in my preferred area long, and I was only able to get 6 shots there. In total, I only took about 40 pictures before he took off and didn’t return. While I like the ones from earlier better, they aren’t bad. And, tomorrow, work!
