Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
(Papilio canadensis)
There have not been many swallowtails around this year, and I did a spirited, wobbly dance yesterday when a single glorious specimen flew past my freckled nose and alighted in a dense thicket of thorny blackberry canes along the trail into the woods - in my excitement, I almost dropped the camera.
A few minutes later, the first cicada of the season started to broadcast its call for a mate from somewhere high up in the trees. Again and again, its tymbal muscles contracted and relaxed, the resulting vibrations creating stridulant refrains in what is, to me anyway, summer's most resonant and engaging musical score. Time stood still as I listened to that poignant and hopeful performance.
There are moments one remembers in the depths of winter, and this was one of them. How sweet to listen to the season's first cicada rumble and rasp in the trees over my head, to stand and watch small wonders flutter and swoop on stained glass wings. Life simply doesn't get any better than this, and it doesn't get any wilder either.
3 comments:
Stunning… There’s something awesome about butterflies, in part due to their glorious, complex beauty and perhaps also due to knowing the process they have gone through to evolve … ♥️
We do indeed live in a world with so many wonderful sights and sounds. It is uplifting to me to hear birds chirping away with the white noise of traffic on streets a block away.
They are wondrous, amazing, delightful little creatures and their mysterious process of transformation. Beautiful shot! I have seen a few Yellow Monarchs flying around the house this year. Don't know if they're swallow tail or not. The wings don't look as intricate as yours, but they fly by so quickly, it's hard to tell :)
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