At the end of the second week of October there were many Gulf Fritillary Butterflies still around.
Our temperatures have remained in the mid to high 80s during the day (27 plus C) which is above average for October. Only in the last few days have the nights gone down to 60 F (15 C).
Fortunately this favorite wildflower of the Fritillary is still blooming. Some lovely purple flowers just a few feet away had no attraction to this fellow.
Taken 10/09/2018, Charleston, SC.
Gulf Fritillaries were zipping all around the swamp edges yesterday morning in what I have come to recognize as a harbinger of fall in South Carolina.
There were a lot of spider webs, too, attached to every kind of plant around the swamp. I walked with a small stick to move those that blocked the trail and only walked into a couple.
Butterflies seem aware of the spider web strands and easily manipulate around them.
I saw this last Gulf Fritillary as we were leaving bouncing on a more delicate wild flower.
Taken 9/8/2018
I’ve seen a few Gulf Fritillaries around as recently as last week. In September they were everywhere you looked. These images were taken on the Morris Island end of Folly Beach where they were cavorting around in the flowers growing in the sand.
Although they fly about independently, if one butterfly finds something good another will soon follow.
They seemed OK at sharing if there were two vying for the same spot, and can hardly push each other around the way birds might do.
September 9, 2017, Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve.
