Tonight’s image is a throw back to this past summer. I actually had forgotten all about this shot or I would have posted it much earlier. I absolutely love these red spotted purple butterflies (Limenitis arthemis astyanax). I really enjoy looking at them and their vibrant colors during the spring and summer. A few of them survive into the early fall, but I haven’t seen one now for quite a while. This shot is from early summer when this butterfly landed on a weathered plank on my old deck. It spent a good 20-30 minutes there fluttering its wings and enjoying the morning sun that was shining down between the shadows. The way the sun was hitting the blue on the hind wings was just mesmerizing. It’s rather unusual to have one of these guys stay in one place for so long, but I took advantage of every second and took quite a few photos as well as a video.