Camera Critters #175

I have travelled to an area near here a number of times to see what new critters are there.  Generally, I see what I saw on my first trip to Lower Bridge.

However a trip Wednesday produced two new butterflies for the area…and a new lifer butterfly for me.

The first is a Lorquin's Admiral.  I have come across this butterfly in different areas, mainly up in the mountains.  It was a nice treat to find one in the Deschutes River canyon area.

Yes…that is my finger.  I was attempting to get the butterfly to climb aboard, and just as I got close enough, I began to slip on the loose gravel I was standing on.  The quick movement of me attempting to regain balance caused the admiral to fly off.

Not long after I came across the admiral, I noticed a small blue butterfly quickly flitting about.  I tried to follow it to get a shot, but lost sight of it.  So I went back to the admiral.  After getting a number of new shots of the admiral, I began to walk the trail.

Whenever I walk the wilds here, I am constantly scanning my surroundings, looking for good subjects.  As I scanned to my left, something just didn’t look right, so I walked over to investigate.

There he was…the blue butterfly I was chasing before.  I lifted my camera and began shooting as I approached the plant it was on.  I got a couple of shots off before the blue butterfly took flight.

When I got home, I checked the images, I realized I got me a new Lepidoptera.  Called a Dotted Blue, there are five different subspecies of this critter.  This one might be the subspecies enoptes, but it could also be columbiae, which is more common in my area.  However, I couldn’t find a photo of that subspecies to verify.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.