Watch Where You Go

A western wood lily and I shared a river bank yesterday. Me, dangling boots over the edge. She, tipped up to the sun.

After a moment I realized we weren’t alone. A northern pearl crescent had joined us. But it misjudged the descent. Instead of landing on the lily, it landed in the lily. Oops.

I watched it circle the bottom, wings flapping but unable to open in tight quarters.

Finally it poked its head between the base of two petals. With more energetic huffing and puffing (or so I imagined), the rest of the body popped out like a wine cork and it fluttered off.

High drama in the afternoon.

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Northern pearl crescent butterfly   Phyciodes morpheus
Western wood lily   Lilium philadelphicum