Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele)
We took a walk on the west side of Lake Needwood today. After the heat of yesterday, it was much nicer today, with overcast skies meaning we didn’t have to stick to tree shadows as much as possible. Of course, much of where we were was in the shade anyway. We saw—and I photographed—a pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), a black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), an osprey (Pandion haliaetus), and a chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina). The highlight, though was seeing a bunch of great spangled fritillaries (Speyeria cybele) on milkweed flowers. At one point there were four butterflies on one plant. We see these from time to time, although I wouldn’t list them in the butterflies we see often. So, it was a treat.