More signs of spring

Swallowtails rarely sit still, so I had to do the best I could with this giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) hovering over a species of flowering sage. The first couple of photos are of the butterfly fluttering, wings partly blurred by motion, and the third is of the butterfly momentarily at rest.







(click to enlarge)

Giant swallowtails, as you might guess from the name, are among the largest north American butterflies.

All in all, it was quite a nice day for butterflies today in Austin, bright and sunny, and I also saw some monarchs, but...no pictures, though I spent half an hour trying.

Meanwhile, as I was following butterflies around, I heard a red-tailed hawk soaring overhead, making its rasping, hawk-with-emphysema cry, sounding distant and whispery...


which soon attracted a gang of crows, neighborhood toughs who drove the hawk away.