"Butterfly Baywatch" (lol)

My blogging hiatus continues, due less to a slump or lack of things to blog about than to available time or energy. (Same old post-fire crap, mostly.) But a new post is way overdue, so here's a bloggable story and accompanying photos...

I was doing chores in the back yard this afternoon when I happened to notice a beautiful butterfly dog-paddling her little heart out in the dogs' water bucket. I suppose she fell in while trying to get a drink (note to butterflies: the shallow birdbath is a better idea!), and I had no idea how long she'd been struggling, but I scooped her out pronto. Poor thing was too wet, bedraggled and weary to fly, so I placed her in the sunshine on the Russian Sage, figuring she could dry out and enjoy a snack while she recuperated. :-) She was content to stay where I'd put her and I enjoyed getting to observe a butterfly close-up and sitting still for once! I was so enthralled with watching her furl and unfurl her proboscis and wave her little antennae about that it took a while before I thought to grab my camera, and I only got these two photos before my batteries died! The butterfly was dry and rested enough to fly away after about 15 minutes. She'll have quite a story to tell and I've got quite the photos to share, so all in all it was a pretty good trade, I'd say!

(And how do I know this butterfly is a female? I don't.) ;-)

Click on them to see larger, more detailed versions...