Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

Butterfly Stays to Get Photographed
I had just returned from dropping Vanessa at a friend's for a playdate and had just driven a fast-asleep Annie in her stroller into the backyard when I saw this butterfly wafting excitedly through our backyard garden.

I was planning on taking a pic of the sleeping Annie anyways, so I crept close with the digital camera and took a bunch of photographs of the butterfly. Was amazed that it stuck around long enough for me to take a single photo, never mind the half-dozen I shot. The one above ended up being the best of the bunch.

I looked it up later on the Web and it turns out to be a black swallowtail, which is pretty descriptive. I don't think I've ever seen one of these before, certainly not close up. This seems to be a good year for butterflies, and have seen many Monarchs, those white-winged Cabbage butterflies and I smaller, Monarch-like mimics fluttering about this summer.

Erika's garden is putting on a splendid show this year and it is a real pleasure to observe them and the occasional flying jewels that also appreciate the garden for their own reasons.

(And if you see this photo and would like to use it elsewhere, please give me due credit and link back to this page. And if you want the full-sized original, just ask!)