For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow, click HERE<<link. When you click the link, it will open in a new window, and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the Top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow activates the option for a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

Almost a year ago — in five days it will be a year — I published a post about a Black Swallowtail butterfly that I photographed in my backyard (LINK).

As it turned out, a couple of days later, I was driving through the Crab Orchard National Refuge where I had the opportunity to snap a bunch of great photos of multiple black swallowtail butterflies on thistle flowers. And, you know what?

I never processed them and never posted them. The same, I think, is for some Monarch Butterfly shots I also took in August of last year.

I aim to post those photos . . . soon.

Meanwhile, here are photos I snapped on July 30th, also at the Crab Orchard National Refuge. And these are also of Black Swallowtail butterflies . . . and other various insects. Yes, that first shot has, along with other insects, two butterflies on the same flower.

I should warn people that I have 32 photos . . . but, fear not! I’ll only link a few within the post and then put a gallery of all the photos at the end of the post for the few who might want to peruse them all.

This LINK will take you to a bit of information about the Black Swallowtail Butterfly.

And, if you’re interested in the flower, that’s a Common Milkweed (LINK) which the Monarchs also (exclusively) like.

I have to say that I was lucky in my shooting. There wasn’t much of a breeze and the butterflies paid me no mind.

I also have to say I was surprised at the number of insects sharing this plant’s blooms . . . For instance, how many do you see in the previous photo? Mind you, it’s easier if you click on the photo to get a larger version or if you go to SmugMug. Don’t worry about counting the various gnats; just count anything the same size or larger as the insect that’s flying.

You can leave your answer in the comments below — call that Photo Challenge A.

For some reason, I really like the above view . . . probably because it looks like it’s sporting a mantle as opposed to wings.

How about I make the insect-counting challenge a bit easier? Count the insects you can see and identify as insects or parts thereof (again, ignoring the many gnats) in this next photo. You can leave the answer in the comments below and identify the next capture as Photo Challenge B.

The dark feature at the upper edge of the flower (at the 11 o’clock position in the photo) is probably an insect, but because I can’t be sure it’s a part of an insect, just ignore it.

I was happy with the many poses I got, and here are some of my favorites . . .

Well, I lied . . . I left out a couple of my favorites, but I included them in the gallery below. I’ll again repeat that it’s perhaps worth visiting the SmugMug gallery if you have one or two you want to see a bit larger. I mean, not much larger because all of these are crops of the originals, but still larger.

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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