Wet spring

Tired of all this rain? I'm sure it's helping something somewhere, but the butterflies... not so much.  I have never seen the Columbia River so high, it has actually reached the flood stage at Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR, and is flooding some walkways near Vancouver as well as several islands.  The sun has peeked through between showers from ominous storm clouds the last two days, and during one of those sunny breaks today I saw two white butterflies floating about, most likely margined whites (Pieris marginalis), although I suppose they could have been cabbage whites (Pieris rapae).  I've also noticed a lot of lupine blooming along the freeway and in the field next to my office. I haven't spotted any blue butterflies visiting this host plant at the office, and I certainly couldn't see them from the freeway.  If you see any lupine displaying beautiful spikes of purple flowers, take a closer look, you might just find a shimmering blue butterfly awaiting you.

Puget blue (Plebejus icarioides blackmorei) larva tended by an ant

Puget blue butterfly (male) on lupine