The Tawny Emperor is not as common as its sister species, the Hackberry Emperor (see my latest post about it HERE), although they can often be found together because they share the same habitat and food source. As already mentioned in my earlier blog post, we have hundreds of butterflies here in our woods since at least a couple weeks. We can sit in the sun for a while and they will land in your hair or on your legs. Joan and I debated why we see so many more this year than any other year before. We don’t know, but maybe the mild winter played a role. However, we enjoy the presence of butterflies up on the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa River Valley here in eastern Iowa.
By the way, this was not shot with a macro lens. I had the Sigma 150-600 on camera for some hummingbirds this weekend and while waiting for their performance, this Tawny Emperor in the front yard became suddenly the subject. As always, I’m not an “eye ball photographer” but the lines of the hostas leaves and the emperor lined up perfectly and some water from the last shower was left on the leave. Summer in eastern Iowa…