IT HAS BEEN GOOD

It has been awhile since my last post and a lot has happened.
In late June, Jackie (my girlfriend) and I went to the upper peninsula for some quality time. Along the way we were able to locate (with excellent directions) a few Northern Blues (Lycaeides idas). Northern Blue was a lifer for me. It only took getting out of the car to find one. Very fortunate. We had 3 in about 30 mintues.

                                          Northern Blue - Alger County, Michigan
                                          2.6 miles east of Shingleton
 
Also making a nice showing were Red-spotted Purples. The ones we saw were the subspecies L. a. arthemis. We call them White Admirals.

                                          Red-spotted Purple (White Admiral) - Schoolcraft County
                                          Seney National Wildlife Refuge.

Not to be out done were the ever present Northern Crescents (Phyciodes selenis). Some people believe our three Michigan species are all the same species. Maybe, maybe not.

                                         Northern Crescent - Schoolcraft County, Michigan
                                         Seney National Wildlife Refuge.

We finished the 4 day trip with 17 species. A nice total for relaxing and sight seeing.
We are ready to go back!