While I absolutely love birds, and I went to Cedar Key on Monday specifically to see birds, I never mind a short distraction by a gorgeous butterfly. At one point while I was watching the flamingos, but not taking any photos, this little gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) came fluttering by. In fact, it flew right in front of my binoculars as if it was just begging for my attention. Since the flamingos seemed very content where they were and were not showing any signs of moving any closer, I took a break from watching them and took a few shots of the butterfly. I really liked this one because it shows off the butterfly’s spotted eyes and spotted neck. When I took it, the butterfly was only about six inches away and stopped almost like it was posing for just a few seconds. Then off it went on it’s way to another flower patch, and I went back to flamingo watching.