BurningbirdRecovered from the Wayback Machine.
My last trip to the Botanical didn’t just result in some butterfly photos. I was also able to grab some photos of birds, including a rather proud looking goldfinch.
Our bright fellow wasn’t by himself, though. This female goldfinch, with more subtle coloring, was busy either trying to hack loose a leaf, or sharpening her bill.
I spotted my first monarchs this week, and managed to get a couple of photos of them and some of their friends at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
Monarch butterfly:
I was finally able to capture an image of a Cabbage White. Though they are common, they’re difficult to photograph because they move about more than most of the other butterflies. They’re also a very aggressive butterfly, chasing away other types of butterflies and, on a couple of occasions, small birds.
The following dainty beauty is most likely a male Clouded Sulphur :
There’s always room for one more Painted Lady photo:
At first I thought this butterfly was a male Taxiles Skipper, but the Butterflies and Moths of North America guide say that this species has never been spotted in Missouri. Running through all of the Skipper photos, I then found the Fiery Skipper, which is known to be in Missouri. The two are very similar, at least to someone new to butterfly identification.
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“We’re talking hundreds of billions” of dollars, Mr. Paulson said at a briefing in which he underscored the depth of the problem, pledged to work with Congress to address it quickly and voiced optimism that, in the end, the country would emerge from the financial chaos.