{"id":149729,"date":"2025-06-30T02:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T07:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=149729"},"modified":"2025-06-30T02:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T07:39:10","slug":"great-spangled-fritillary-and-memories-of-my-mom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/06\/30\/great-spangled-fritillary-and-memories-of-my-mom\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Spangled Fritillary And Memories Of My Mom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I\u2019m sharing a simple Great Spangled Fritillary photo taken yesterday while the butterfly nectared on a butterfly bush here in Arkansas.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Spangled Fritillary in Arkansas<\/span><\/p>\n

I was glad to see the fritillary butterfly in the garden. So far this year, I haven\u2019t seen or photographed many butterflies at all. As much as I love bird photography, I also adore photographing other things with wings.<\/p>\n

Today marks the second anniversary of the last day I had a conversation with my mother before her rapid physical and mental decline in hospice. Mom passed away just a few days later, on the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n

I know it\u2019s going to be a rough day for me. I\u2019m hoping that being out in nature and sharing the great company of my dear friend Steve Creek and his amazing dog, Rosie, will help too.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> still good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I\u2019m sharing a simple Great Spangled Fritillary photo taken yesterday while the butterfly nectared on a butterfly bush here in Arkansas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13950,6668,13951],"tags":[6669,6041,6042,15673,12033,6634,13931,6670,6671,6044,15824,2315,13966],"class_list":["post-149729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-great-spangled-fritillary-butterflies","category-sebastian-county","tag-argynnis-cybele","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-butterfly-bush","tag-fritillaries","tag-fritillary","tag-garden","tag-great-spangled-fritillary","tag-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly","tag-nectaring","tag-suburban","tag-summer-3","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0814.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-CWZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92460,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/22\/female-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":149729,"position":0},"title":"Female Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a female Great Spangled Fritillary, a butterfly species that can be abundant in the Wasatch Mountains at this time of the year.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies"","block_context":{"text":"Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterflies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly female in July, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0506.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0506.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0506.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0506.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59233,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/29\/unidentified-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle\/","url_meta":{"origin":149729,"position":1},"title":"Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly Resting On Black Twinberry Honeysuckle","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm confident in my North American bird ID abilities but when it comes to Fritillary butterfly species ID in the Wasatch Mountains I feel stymied a lot of the time.","rel":"","context":"In "Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies"","block_context":{"text":"Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterflies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly butterfly resting on Black Twinberry Honeysuckle, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle-mia-mcpherson-2508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle-mia-mcpherson-2508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle-mia-mcpherson-2508.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle-mia-mcpherson-2508.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53260,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/29\/female-great-spangled-fritillary-nectaring-on-musk-thistle-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":149729,"position":3},"title":"Female Great Spangled Fritillary Nectaring on Musk Thistle in the Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week while I was up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains I spotted a female Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly nectaring on a Musk Thistle so I felt I had to take photos of she sipped the nectar of the flower.","rel":"","context":"In "Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies"","block_context":{"text":"Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterflies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Spangled Fritillary female on a Musk Thistle, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-female-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-6738.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-female-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-6738.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-female-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-6738.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-female-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-6738.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53074,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/13\/fritillary-butterfly-other-things-with-wings\/","url_meta":{"origin":149729,"position":4},"title":"Fritillary Butterfly – Other Things With Wings","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm going to ask for help later on today from bugguide.net with the identification of this fritillary butterfly. I don't normally have to ask for identification assistance but I need it for this other thing with wings.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fritillary butterfly on a Musk Thistle, Little Emigration Canyon, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":92397,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/20\/fritillary-photobombing-a-two-tailed-swallowtail-butterfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":149729,"position":5},"title":"Fritillary photobombing a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I photographed a fritillary butterfly photobomb a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly as it nectared on a Showy Milkweed high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Morgan County"","block_context":{"text":"Morgan County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/morgan-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fritillary photobombing a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}