Thursday, March 29, 2012

March Butterflies

This morning I decided to head out to Shenandoah River State Park in the hopes of finding a drumming Ruffed Grouse. While this search was unsuccessful I still had a very good morning. There was a flock of Golden-crowned and singing Ruby-crowned Kinglets at the picnic area and I saw this Louisiana Waterthrush along a nearby creek.

As I was walking along the Cottonwood Trail I was surprised to see this Black Rat Snake coming out of a hole in a juniper!
The real highlights of the day, however, were the butterflies. Zebra Swallowtails were everywhere, along with one Spicebush Swallowtail, a Falcate Orangetip, a Question Mark, and several duskywings which I think were Juvenal's.
As I was walking down by the river, I was stunned to see several Little Brown Myotis in between the plastic panel protecting a sign! I have never seen a bat perched before so I was pretty excited.
I finished off a great morning with my first Northern Rough-winged Swallows of the year near the RV Campground.

1 comment:

  1. Hi - will you post your Blog at The Birding Community ay vorts.com? Our members will love it!
    It's easy just cut and paste the link and it automatically links back to your website. You can also add Photos, Videos, Articles, Questions, etc. It’s free and easy…
    Connect with other Birders from around the world.
    We are looking for contributors to share stuff with our members. Please help.
    Email me if you need any help or would like me to do it for you.
    The Birding Community: http://www.vorts.com/birding/
    Thanks,
    James Kaufman, Editor

    ReplyDelete