Impossible...

Across much of N. America, the numbers of Painted Ladies has been nothing short of astonishing this fall.  And, like Monarchs, they are on the move in the fall, heading south.  Several weeks ago, it was nothing to see a dozen in my garden at any time; now the numbers are dwindling to only a few.  And soon, they'll all be gone.  But until they go, it's impossible for me not to photograph them!  

Unless you live in Australia or Antarctica, this is a species you are probably familiar with as they are one of the most abundant and widespread butterfly species in the world.  Part of the reason for this is that they can use a multitude of plants as hosts for their eggs/caterpillars.  This makes it much easier for this species to flourish versus the monarch which can only use milkweed as its host.  

Anyway, a Painted Lady on a zinnia.  No crop, but I did do some minor boosts to luminescence and saturation in LR.  Two more shots on Flickr starting HERE - another Lady and a very hairy fly.  Beauty and the Beast.

Had a nice walkabout with my camera today, following some trails that I'm partial to (and where there are no hunters).  Saw a surprising number of butterflies, including Commas, Clouded Sulphurs and Buckeyes.  The weather was perfect - 60's and scattered clouds.  

Tonight we are off to dinner with our friends who have the farm around the corner - it's always such a good time when we see them.  

Thanks for sending my rainy daisy and lady beetle to the Popular page yesterday.  Rain can be such a nice thing sometimes, photographically speaking.  

Happy Hump Day!

xo
Debbi