White Admiral at Duffins Creek, July 2020

The White Admiral lives in deciduous forest borders and glades.

White Admiral

They alternately sail and flap, darting out at insects or other interlopers in their territiories.

White Admiral

They also perch on leaves, twigs, or other prominences, taking aphid honeydew or liquids from flowers and carrion. I have heard that admiral butterflies were originally called “admirable” butterflies.

Here is the much smaller Red Admiral:

Red Admiral Butterfly

Other life:

Ebony Jewelwing (male)
Ebony Jewelwing (female)
Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Cabbage White Butterfly
Monarch
Brown-lipped Snail
Amber Snail
Amber Snail
Amber Snail

On this day I explored the northern section of the Seton Trail which follows Duffins Creek:

Some botany:

Basswood (Tilia americana)
Corn
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus inserta)
Red Raspberry (Rubus strigosus)
Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis)
Elecampane (Inula helenium)
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Wild Rice (Zizania aquatica)
Tartarian Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)
Tartarian Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)
Highbush-cranberry (Viburnum opulus)
Common Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Common Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Common Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris)
Manitoba Maple (Acer negundo)
Ostrich Fern
Sensitive Fern
Bulblet Fern
Forget-me-not (Myosotis)
Curled Dock (Rumex crispus)
Common Buttercup (Ranunculus acris)
Water-hemlock (Cicuta maculata) considered to be the most violently poisonous plant in temperate North America for both livestock and humans.
Common Arrowhead (sagitteria latifolia
Cow-parsnip (Heracleum maximum)
Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra)
Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)
Field Sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis)
Redtop (Agrostis gigantea)
Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata)
Common Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Common Milkweed (Ascelpias syriaca)
Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
Hedge Parsley (Torilis japonica)
Queen-Anne’s-lace (Daucus carota)
St. John’s-wort (Hypericum perforatum)

NATURE POETRY

O summer day beside the joyous sea!
O summer day so wonderful and white,
So full of gladness, and so full of pain!
Forever and forever shalt thou be–
To some the gravestone of a dead delight,
To some the landmark of a new domain.”      – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)

Miles Hearn

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