Sunday, November 6, 2011,
This butterfly is called, much to my chagrin, a Common Buckeye. I was hiking around Short Beach Park in Nissequogue a few days back when I came across this critter, or rather, this critter came across me. Well, it crossed my path. It’s a really good flier; there’s not much flutter to this butterfly. At first I thought I was seeing one of those flying grasshopper thingies – that’s how directly it flew – but when it landed I saw it was this really pretty butterfly instead. I was not at all disappointed. I was, however, disappointed when I got home and looked this beauty up in my field guides. I’m thinking I’ve found some exotic species only to find out it’s a Common Buckeye. Common! What is so common about this Buckeye? It dresses like royalty. JK
You have an eye to see the beautiful in the common; most people do not. People let “ordinary” days pass by like so much sand streaming through their fingers at the beach but make a major fuss over the occasional holiday, forgetting it is the ordinary that makes up most of life and gives magic to life. This common buckeye may be more prevalent than certain species and thus he is called common; well, perhaps he can stand as a reminder to us to pause long enough to see the beauty in the common around us.
nice shot joe!