A return to Dougan Falls or Butterfly Catching with Jeffrey

     Having returned from a moderately successful butterfly trip to Central Oregon, Sandra and I regrouped and made a foray to Dougan Falls, which has become our home court for butterflies.  Summer had arrived on the Washougal; spring butterflies, like the

The Lorquin's Admiral

blues and whites, were no longer present.  In their place we found the butterfly community that we experienced in early summer last year.  Now armed with nets and plastic bags, not to mention the morality espoused by Professor Pyle, we took very few home, and we have these pictures to present.

   You will undoubtedly notice that the pictures are not taken on native plants, but rather on the shrubs and stone work adjacent to our condominium.  

    This year we notice that many species of butterflies occur in a range of sizes.  Lorquin's Admiral and Western Tiger Swallowtail were both found in abundance.  From smallest to large, they exhibited what appeared to be a 100% variation in size.  The Lorquin's that we photographed on Dougan Creek last fall was perhaps 50% bigger than the one you see here. 

Lorquin's admiral in resting position

   Sandra is actively posting our butterflies on a blog, which is monitored by Caitlin LaBar, Professor Pyle's junior colleague.  Not long ago one of the participants was speculating on the identification of a butterfly based on size.  Ms. LaBar was all over him for this.  Unlike birds, which have a very narrow range of size difference within a species, butterflies can vary widely.

   Isn't the ventral wing of the Lorquin's Admiral remarkable?  I encourage you, as always , to look at or friend Peter's blog, (Google search One Breath Kohala)  where he has a photograph of a California Sister in similar resting position.  If anything, the ventral surface of that butterfly's wings is even more colorful and complex than the Lorquin's.

   In the case of many butterflies, the ventral surface of the wing is cryptically colored, which makes sense if you are trying to avoid predators, while taking a breather near the forest floor.   I wonder what strategy drove the evolution of this colorful ventral surface?  

    Photographing a subdued butterfly provides some unexpected benefits.  This head on view of a Lorquin's Admiral is amazing, possibly redolent of science fiction.

A face on view of Lorquin's Admiral.

   The Western Meadow Fritillary is widely distributed.  In flight, one is attracted to the citrus orange of the the dorsal wing surface.  However, the pattern of the under wing, with those buttery spots outlined delicately in black, are the best key to identification.

Western Meadow Fritillary shows off his buttery hind wing spots

A Western Meadow Frit, warming up on a shrub

   

 Clodius Parnassian was now present in significant numbers.   The body of this handsome butterly is rich with yellow hairs, a regular rubio.

Clodius Parnassian

   While we were netting butterflies, at one of our favorite spots in the Naked Falls area, I spotted what I thought was an angelwing / comma on the road.  I took a moment to look at him, which provided the opportunity for escape.  On our next trip to the area, I was hoping for another chance, but it was not to be; the identificaion of this butterfly is  (like the fate of Charlie on the MTA) still unlearned. 

     What we did see, capture and photograph, was a Pale Swallowtail.  You will recall that this species was abundant in Central Oregon.  Perhaps you will remember that we did not see it in Washington in

Pale Swallowtail

2021.  Here you see him warming up on the cement margin of our garden.

  

 

 

   A few days after this trip to the falls, we had the opportunity to spend a  week with our grandson.  We thought Jeffrey would enjoy a look at the falls and the chance to catch a butterfly.  He was able to net a Silverspot Skipper, which appears in abundance on the warm roadway.  At one of the bridges of Naked Falls, we managed to capture him as full fledged lepidopterist.   

     With any luck your experiences out in nature will be as happy as ours.

jeff