Common Checkered Skipper Butterfly | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Common Checkered Skipper Butterfly | Mrsroadrunner Photography




Meet again this Common Checkered Skipper Butterfly! This one is on one of our wildflowers that grow here in our part of the high desert of Oregon!





Skipper Butterflies all have the same structure in appearance. All Skipper Butterflies kind of, "skip", or "Flutter" about. My observations as for photographing the Skipper Butterflies is to find them busy as this one is, and keep your shadow off them. Once you find your own technique , you too will get many photographs of the Skippers doing what the Skippers would do if you are there documenting their behavior or not.





This Common Checkered Skipper Butterfly is rather a pretty one with the hint of blue! I like the color myself and this one is a common Butterfly here on our part of Oregon.

Skipper Butterflies to my understand are found all over America, from the west coast where we are to the east coast! Perhaps not this pacific species of this Skipper Butterfly. However all skippers have this body structure as I have said. This is a good way of knowing what you have seen or photographed. Knowing the Butterfly is a Skipper, then if you choose you can identify what kind of Skipper Butterfly.

Thank you for coming by and checking out this small series of photographs of this Common Checkered Skipper Butterfly!

Wood-nymph Butterfly | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Wood-nymph Butterfly | Mrsroadrunner Photography



Meet the Wood-nymph Butterfly! See the Butterflies eye spots?





This Wood-nymph Butterfly is feeding on these wildflowers. As you look through this series of photographs, watch this Wood-nymph Butterflies face. You can clearly see this Wood-nymph Butterfly feeding!





The Wood-nymph Butterfly comes in several sizes and the colors can be different as well. This species is found here in Oregon. To be more pacific of where I photographed this Wood-nymph Butterfly I photographed this one in the Ochoco Mountains of Oregon.





You will here me talk a lot of the Ochoco Mountains for we like the Ochoco Mountains a great deal! If you are looking for the big animals deer, elk even Wild Horses that kind of thing, the Ochoco Mountains has those more so then my observations of the Cascade Mountains. The Cascade Mountains it has been our experience of more people then the Ochoco Mountains has, but for hunting season. Hunting season is a crazy time of the year. The Cascade Mountains has the tourists, the Ochoco Mountains has the hunters. That might be easier to explain the two mountain ranges?

We like the quietness and the abundance of all kinds of Wildlife in the Ochoco Mountains! I am not a big snow person, as you can find year round in the Cascade Mountains. Cascades are also found in the Ochoco Mountains, not like the Cascade Mountains of course, many more Cascades in the Cascade Mountains!

Depends what you are looking for, wanting? The Ochoco Mountains in Spring and Summer is a Butterfly persons wonderland!





It is getting to be that time of the year where it is time to head back into the Ochoco Mountains! The wildflowers should be about to bloom if they have not started? Our Lupine and other native species are about to bloom at any time here at home. We live in between the Cascade Mountains to the west of us, and the Ochoco Mountains to the east of us. Which direction do we want to go ?





I left this Wood-nymph Butterfly feeding on these Wildflowers. There is no need to spend to much time with one species of Butterfly for there is so many more to photograph! Most times the Butterflies cooperate with me and my camera. Other times I would love to be a fly on the wall watching haha!

Thank you for coming by and checking out my Wood-nymph Butterfly Photographs!

Fenders Blue Butterfly In Its Natural Environment | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Fenders Blue Butterfly In Its Natural Environment | Mrsroadrunner Photography




Meet the tiny Fenders Blue Butterfly!





This is one of our visits to the Ochoco Mountains. I look for water, and typically a prairie like area for the butterflies. Since everything needs a drink, and Butterflies do not drink as we do, they need mud! So this is what I look for. Typically I am not disappointed! As the photograph above shows, this Fenders Blue Butterfly is getting a drink.





This photograph above shows a little more detail of the Fenders Blue Butterfly drinking. This strategy of mine usually does not fail me. This day many butterflies were at this spot up in the Ochoco Mountains!





Since these butterflies are horribly tiny for what we consider a size for a butterfly, I have to get right in there with my camera. Guy keeps the dogs with him, and away from where I am! The running water is not far away and this area is full of Deer and other critters the dogs noses find desirable to pay attention to. Folks wonder how I get ticks on me, well......

The biggest population of these Butterflies is said to be over the mountain west of Salem Oregon. I found this interesting. I personally would have no idea if I were in some ones backyard if I were over there looking for butterflies...... I wish them the best over the mountain to keep areas free from progress!

Lupine is again the hero of these Butterflies. Lupine is very common flower plant over here! The wild lupine grows in many places, and different kinds of Lupine! However the Kincaid's lupine was on the endangered plant list itself!! Might still be?? If the Fenders Blue ONLY feeds on this Kincaid's lupine, then the Kincaid's lupine must be growing over here as well?

Since I also take photographs of the wildflowers, it might be time to look for Lupine Photographs in my archive. Though to be honest.... Lupine is so common over here.... I may not even take photographs of it anymore? I will have to keep this in mind when out and about. Doing my research I have seen photographs of the Fender's Blue Butterflies on the Lupine that we (Guy and I), consider common Lupine......we see Lupine everywhere!





The Fenders Blue Butterfly is one of the Butterflies that are on the endangered list. Recovery plans are in effect and it makes me wonder if in our mountains are the places that these recovery plans are in action?? Is this why I am finding and photographing such species as the Fenders Blue?? Without going into my archive, I believe another spot I photographed these Fenders Blue Butterflies was in the Mount Jefferson wilderness area, part of the Cascade Mountain range.

East of the Cascade Mountains is not like the west. We do not have the population of people like they do. This means we have wide open places for such things to thrive. We have acres of public lands, large privately owned ranches and farms over here. Unlike west of the Cascade Mountains we have the areas that many creature need to survive. If a person is willing to take their time, gas money, reliable vehicle,packed lunch and water etc. to head out into these areas to photograph in such places, it can be rewarding.





The vegetation these Fenders Blue Butterflies are on is notable! The Fenders Blue Butterflies were not feeding. Keep in mind there were more then just the ones I photographed! I pay attention to the individual Butterflies and what they are doing. This area is for getting drinks.

Keep in mind, these are my photographs, my observations, my time, money spent and the research I have done. I reserve the right to be wrong, to learn and my contact information is out there if you have information that could be useful to me! I do pass on information to others......There are more photographs to this series.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my photography!

Viceroy Butterfly In The High Desert | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Viceroy Butterfly In The High Desert | Mrsroadrunner Photography



Meet the Viceroy Butterfly! Pretty Butterfly right?





I learned of this Butterfly actually on facebook..... a wildlife place was posting the difference of the Viceroy Butterfly, and the Monarch Butterfly. I thought it looked familiar, as if I had photographed the Viceroy Butterfly before. Sure enough when I came upon this photo album in my archive (2014), there was this Viceroy Butterfly!

I take many photographs. Someone asked if I could send over a new photograph I just took, well things are not that quick when using a real camera. After the time and effort it takes to get the photograph of whatever, then there is the upload process from which ever camera body that I used. After the upload into my archive, (my archive has the year whatever was taken, and the date, exact time etc.. This gives me a educated guess of where a species might be the next year or the year after that so on. Or the weather conditions , garden changes of whatever flower we grow here at home from year to year), Then I take the time to name each usable file. This way I can go to search, put in a key word and whatever photograph comes up.  This also helps me with the identification process of past species I have photographed.... you get it.

Then I may or may not watermark what ever photograph I upload to the web. Lately since I have been uploading photographs to my own server, all photographs are being watermarked before they go onto the web. My process works for me. Everyone has their own routine, this is just mine. When I need whatever photograph processed into whatever sized photograph I just go into my archive, either choose the photograph that is named already or go to the original file, which ever one I need. The watermarked photographs are resized to a size that is not good for processing, plus who wants a photograph that is watermarked??

So you see I do not just upload a photograph I just took without going through my routine...... Which should teach me not to talk about things I just photographed, but I get excised. When this feeling goes away I will walk away from this whole thing....





This Viceroy Butterfly was very skittish. Was not staying still for me for nothing!! I translate this into, just arriving here at this place I was at? Or, just transforming into a Butterfly at this place I was at? Just not used to people. Where I go for my photography I am lucky to see one other person, typically this is off in the distance. Typically a farmer or rancher working. I do not always go out and about with Guy and/or the dogs. I have a tendency to go by myself.

Because of this butterfly being so sketch I did not get the micro shots that I like to get.

See the "half moon", of black? The "U" shape..... well the Monarch Butterfly does not have that....





The photograph above is a Monarch Butterfly. No black moon shape or a "U", of black. Look at the two photographs and you can see the differences of the two butterflies. Anyhoo read up on your own about the Viceroy Butterfly, and the Monarch Butterfly. I have not as of yet dived into the males and females all that.... I find if I have a reason to do something then the time is not wasted.





This shot above is in another location. Same Viceroy Butterfly. I watched where it went and got this photograph above.





This shot above I used for identification purposes only. Not a clear shot, so I named the file above for id purposes only. You can see this when you go to look at the photograph itself. I go to my search and put in the key words," Viceroy Butterfly id only", and that photograph will come up. As I said in other blog posts some of my photography is used for ID only.

Thank you for coming by and checking out my photography of this Viceroy Butterfly!

Checkered Skipper Butterfly In The High Desert | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Checkered Skipper Butterfly In The High Desert | Mrsroadrunner Photography




Meet the Checkered Skipper Butterfly! This skipper Butterfly is a common Skipper here in our area.





The area in which I was for these photographs is a marshy area. If you are not careful where you step you may get wet! This is part of a gully that we have here in our town. I have hiked quite far in this gully and it just keeps going and going! Not all this gully has water, though more then on top does!





The Skipper Butterflies are called Skippers for how they seam to, "skip", as they fly.  All Skipper Butterflies have the body structure you see above. This is how you break down this species of Butterfly when identification is needed.





This Checkered Skipper Butterfly was not feeding, but seamed to be sunning itself in the shot above? All Butterflies tend to use us as kind of a shield when hiking. The Butterflies tend to flutter around us, my theory is so the birds will stay away?? If you have noticed I have a lot of Butterfly Photographs, many more then I share! Identification on my part takes me a lot of my time.....There are so many Butterflies!!

Thank you for coming by and checking out my photographs of this this Checkered Skipper Butterfly!

Butterfly On The Sweet William Flowers | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Butterfly On The Sweet William Flowers | Mrsroadrunner Photography




Meet the Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly we have here at the house in the High Desert of Oregon!





Of course this species of Swallowtail are not just at our garden, but many places here in the High Desert! There were several of these Yellow Swallowtail Butterflies here at the house on this day , I chose these Sweet William Flowers and their visitors to pay attention to!





Since this Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly is in perfect shape I do feel this one is new to the Butterfly world coming from close by! Some years is great for all kinds of Butterflies to show up here to our garden!

We grow the Sweet William flowers by seeds. The Sweet William flowers did very well the first year we put them in and the butterflies of all kinds like them so much we put more of them into the garden here and there!





The Yellow Swallowtail Butterflies have everything they need right here in our garden! From food to the mud we supply for water the butterflies drink from. We even do not mind when they lay their eggs here and there! Though I really feel the trees that are close by are really where the caterpillars live and feed. Way up high in those trees you can see where the Caterpillars are, this is where I feel they metamorphoses into butterflies.....

I may make a blog of one of these Yellow Swallowtails who look as if it just emerged, drying it's wings on a leaf.....





I do like this shot I took of the Yellow Swallowtail Butterflies sets of wings. Front are up while the back wings are down.





This shot above I wanted to show the Sweet William Flowers with the Yellow Swallowtail in the shot but more in the background. I sure do like these Sweet William Flowers! Easy to grow, we have the Sweet William Flowers in several locations of our small properties garden.

Thank you for coming by and checking out this Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly!!

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly On The Lilac Flowers

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly On The Lilac Flowers




Meet the Yellow Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly we get here every year in our garden!



This is probably the biggest butterfly we have here in our garden? This series of photographs of this butterfly was taken in May 12 of 2014 as the Lilacs were in bloom.



I believe these Swallowtails emerge as butterflies in or near our garden. I believe it is these butterfly cocoons I have noticed way up in the tall tree's that grow near us? As you can see this one Swallowtail is in perfect shape. No birds, or cats have gotten to this one!



The butterflies of all kinds like the Lilacs when they go to bloom, and even when the Lilacs are not in bloom! The Lilacs attract many things to them, when the Lilacs bloom, even more so!

Early in the Morning my routine everyday to water. I also spray down the Lilacs which do attract such things as the butterflies to get drinks as well as when the Lilacs bloom supplying the creatures with food, a place to hide, nesting material for the birds. We have had peoples cats hide in our Lilacs and even had someones chicken hide in our Lilacs haha! Actually the chicken fell asleep and I could not figure out what in the world was in my Lilacs haha!



We do grow many Lilacs and use them as the privacy, "fence". When the Lilacs bloom oh wow the scent even comes inside the house! We had one lady tell us she could smell the Lilac blooms at her home!



I am fond of the all the visitors here to the garden. These Swallowtail are one of the flashier visitors! Some years we have dozens of these Swallowtails here! It kind of gets crazy for they are flying here and there and stopping here and there!

Oh boy do these Tiger Swallowtail also like the Sweet William flowers!! Actually gosh, the swallowtails like most things we choose to grow and come back year after year! Since we do not spray any chemicals, I typically do not allow cutting my flowers so such things as the Butterflies have plenty here to choose from!



Other then the spray that other folks use to kill insects, (butterflies are insects), the birds are one of the predators and peoples cats do a lot of damage to such things as the Swallowtail Butterflies.

Attracting such things as the Swallowtail Butterflies to your flower beds is not real hard! Just plant the flowers they like! Lilacs, lupine, foxglove, Lilies,Sweet williams,roses, mmmmmm gosh the Swallowtails come to almost everything we grow here, the list of plants we grow here goes on and on!

Remember to give the Butterflies of all kinds a safe place to drink!! We have many birds here, can not express to you how many birds we get here!! The bird area is the same place we have made for such things as the Butterflies to get drinks. So far everyone has lived in harmony. If you have cats..... cats will harm and even kill such things as butterflies without a second thought!! Keep this in mind if you are going to plant flowers to attract the butterflies. It is not really fair to attract such a thing as Butterflies to the garden if they are just going to get killed by your cat. We have a cat, and he has to follow the rules just like the dogs do, or the cat just like the dogs - gets in trouble.



Just like most of the other visitors here to the garden, they get used to my routine. Everyday I try and do the same things for the critters get to know my routine. The visitors are more at ease when they learn your routine, photographs then are nothing out of the normal.



Thank you for coming by and checking out this series of photographs I got of this Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly feeding on the Lilac flowers! Lilacs are super easy to grow! Most everyone sales them, if you do not know someone you could dig up a baby from! We just have the purple Lilacs at this time, though there are more colors of Lilacs and I really can not say how the other colors attract visitors?

Oregon Red Admiral Butterfly

Oregon Red Admiral Butterfly





Meet the Red Admiral Butterfly. These photographs were taken right here at home on the Raspberry leaves on June 6 , 2014.



One thing to note, we grow the Raspberries around our small ponds where the Raspberries can get the water they need here in the High Desert of Oregon without having to pay attention to how much water such berries need. The roots of the berry plants at times are completely water bound.

The Raspberries attract so many creatures to them, the water of course is a huge attraction to the wildlife! The High Desert can be a dry place! Fearing 2015 will be another year of dry conditions, wildfires etc.. We will just see what visits us this year?

Along with the small ponds, the flowers, the Raspberries this is also a protected area from cats and people. Many folks if they can see in this area from outside (typically this area is not seen from the outside when everything is in bloom and/or growing), will catch me just kicking back with my camera with the dogs just waiting to see what creatures show up!



On this day in June this Red Admiral Butterfly showed up. Not a small butterfly, not the biggest butterfly that visits our home. One of the more colorful butterflies!



I have started putting the dates on my posts so I can write another post of series of shots that are taken on different days if I want to. Some days we get a lot of different visitors showing up here!! Some days I am constantly shooting different series of different visitors. Visitors are wildlife that shows up.

I was asked why I do not have photographs of "friends", referring to people. I do not know how to explain to such folks with this mentality, that wildlife is my friend. I enjoy such creatures more so then human contact in the real world. Some of you know exactly what I mean!

I bring up at times while on social media the little boy who road his bicycle and stopped in the road where he could see me in my chair with my camera and said to me his parents were both outside if I want to talk with them. I thanked him for the invite and said if I am out there talking to your folks, who will talk to the birds? Of course I got a strange look before the little boy went riding to tell his parents what I said.

I dont care to learn of the local gossip. Who is doing what. We make our home a place we want to be. If a matter comes up I feel I need to put my two cents in as far as this town goes, we have a mayor who is easy enough to call up on the phone. I am shy that way haha



Such things as this Red Admiral Butterfly is easy enough to photograph. I do my best to make this a safe place for such things and I think such creatures as this Red Admiral Butterfly knows this? I do not do anything special other then keeping up the ponds, flowers, Raspberries and spending time outside without distractions.

I do notice , people have a hard time just being these days. Everyone is trying to impress each other, outdo each other..... The curse of being a human right? I have plenty of time to just ponder everything as I wait to see what visitor shows up next!

On twitter the other day butterflies came up. The breeding of, setting "free", the domesticated wildlife. Bred in captivity I feel these "wild", creatures loose the benefit of the true wild creatures. Even something so minute as even the butterfly. For all I know this butterfly could have been from a wedding or even a classroom? All I know is, this Red Admiral Butterfly stopped by and I was more then happy to photograph it!



I do watch such things as this Red Admiral Butterfly more so then photograph. Photographing my subjects really does not take long at all in most cases! Someone mentioned how long I must have been out taken photographs of another insect, how do you tell such a person that it did not take but a little time without making it sound like they are wasting their time reading a book and trying to impress all the onlookers? Perhaps this is why I like doing photography alone. Without the distractions of other people?

If you want to read up about this beautiful Red Admiral Butterfly I recommend going to any state, government or university website for actual facts. My observations are mine and I really can ramble on and on, however I really do not know what you all want me to ramble on about haha!

Thank you for coming by and seeing my photography of this day of the Red Admiral Butterfly.

Skipper Butterfly on The Zinnia Flower

Skipper Butterfly on The Zinnia Flower




Meet a Skipper Butterfly that visits our garden every year. Skipper Butterflies are called this for they flutter, or skip from place to place. Not always flowers but to feed the flowers are the place to find them!



The Zinnia Flower patch of ours attracts many such creatures both big and small to their bright colors to feed. Once the creatures are feeding and get used to you, the photography gets easier.



We do get several butterflies here to the garden which I like to see. Fact is here it is February 18, and I saw a bigger butterfly fluttering about yesterday and some smaller moths which was somewhat of a surprise to me since after all it is still winter! Our garden has nothing for these creatures to feed on at the moment.



Soon our garden will be blooming once again and we will see such creatures showing up as we have year after year! Soil is being prepared and/or cleaned up and sprouts of flowering plants are seen everywhere. The weather is being funny, warm for this time of the year. If we do not have a hard frost everything should be blooming early!

Thank you for coming by and checking out this short series of photographs!