Busy weeks

For the last week I've been travelling hither and yon with my sister, shopping and sight-seeing and visiting good friends, all before she ships off to a remote island to forecast weather for an army base.  This weekend I plan to get up in the hills and hopefully find some butterflies, and will post about that when I get back.  Next weekend I'm planning on another trip, this time to a wildlife area to do some butterfly surveying and photography.

Last weekend I saw my first two tiger swallowtails on the way up to Mt. St. Helens, and then while visiting our close friends in Sequim, we went for a walk at Dungeness Wildlife Refuge (on the beach) where I saw a Lorquin's admiral coast by in the parking lot.  Earlier this week my very first royal walnut moth (aka regal moth or hickory horned devil... because of the six-inch long spiked caterpillar) emerged, much to my delight!  These are tricky to get them to emerge after overwintering, and the first two I had died because I think I got them too cold. This one overwintered in my outdoor storage closet that contains my water heater, so it stayed above freezing but was colder than the house, and was also slightly more humid.

On top of the Space Needle overlooking Seattle

Royal Walnut moth - Citheronia regalis