... Shazam!

That's what I thought when I saw not one, but TWO Giant Swallowtails (Papilio Cresphontes) today!! In fact, I may have even blurted it out in my excitement. This large swallowtail was rarely seen in northern NJ until quite recently. Apparently, this year they seem to be making a bit of a comeback. This is the third time I've seen one, the most recent being a couple of days ago in my back yard. They feed rather frenetically with much fluttering of wings and flitting about (a bit like a cabbage white in that regard) so they are not easy to photograph. That by way of saying, don't look too close at this as you'll see some spots that are out of focus.

I spent about 3 hours this morning at my favorite nearby state forest/park, meandering trails and meadows. Mostly I saw lots of interesting winged insects, although I did have my second ever sighting of an indigo bunting! Unfortunately he was gone in a flash, too fast for a decent shot. I could have blipped any number of insects, including a very cooperative hummingbird moth, but I had to go with these two beauties. The second one in this shot was a total surprise - I had the lens focused in on the one on the right and didn't even know a second one was in the area until it flew into my frame. Snap, snap, snap (hoping for the best).

The backyard birds are all well and seem to be focused on eating me out of house and home. I've refilled the hummingbird feeders AGAIN and am going to make up another half-gallon of sugar water later this afternoon in preparation for tomorrow. Those dang things can really drink! It's like they are in a college fraternity or something...

I posted a selection of interesting shots (mostly insects) on Flickr, so Click here if you'd like to take a look. There are a couple of mystery insects, so if anyone can ID them, I'd appreciate it! Both are in the wasp family, I think.

I want to give a special shout out to two of my favorite blippers, both of whom are celebrating blip-days today! PaulFS is celebrating 365 today, and has posted another of his fantastic shot to mark the day. And JillyMint has just logged 200 blips - I think you'll like what she has for you today! Happy Blipday, you two!

And happy Saturday, blippers...

Oh, and I almost forgot! I took a short (20 second) video of the swallowtail with my iphone if you would care to have a peek. Here on YouTube