{"id":57706,"date":"2019-05-09T04:47:22","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T10:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=57706"},"modified":"2026-03-17T07:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:21:11","slug":"painted-lady-and-mourning-cloak-butterflies-on-fragrant-sumac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/05\/09\/painted-lady-and-mourning-cloak-butterflies-on-fragrant-sumac\/","title":{"rendered":"Painted Lady And Mourning Cloak Butterflies On Fragrant Sumac"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PaintedPainted Lady butterfly on Fragrant Sumac – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

While I am out searching for birds to photograph I also look at the other creatures that I spot and generally I can’t resist taking photos of them and why wouldn’t I? Everything in nature is connected and I value and treasure it all so it only seems logical to me to photograph them too when I can. I especially enjoy photographing “other things with wings” including the insects and butterflies I see.<\/p>\n

Painted Lady butterflies have been in the news a lot this spring because so many of them are being spotted starting with California and their super bloom earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Why Millions Of Painted Lady Butterflies Are Migrating Through California<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just you. There are a lot more butterflies in Utah this year.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Following California’s super bloom craze, painted lady butterflies reach Monterey County<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Painted Lady butterflies are migratory and several weeks ago they started showing up in northern Utah in large numbers too as our early wildflowers started to bloom at lower elevations. I photographed this Painted Lady butterfly on April 27th as it nectared in the tiny yellow flowers of a Fragrant Sumac shrub up in Box Elder County. The Painted Lady is a bit battered up which is probably due to the long distance migration it took to get here.<\/p>\n

\"MourningMourning Cloak butterfly on Fragrant Sumac – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Mourning Cloak butterfly I photographed five days ago not far from where I photographed the Painted Lady was also nectaring on Fragrant Sumac and it too looked a bit worn because they are a migratory butterfly species as well. The sumac where I photographed this butterfly was covered with other Mourning Cloaks, I estimate that I could see 30 of them at a time plus a a few other butterfly species that I didn’t get high quality images of.<\/p>\n

The Fragrant Sumac blooms attract more butterflies than I was previously aware of but now I will pay more attention to these shrubs to look for other things with wings.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This Mourning Cloak butterfly I photographed five days ago not far from where I photographed the Painted Lady was also nectaring on Fragrant Sumac and it too looked a bit worn because they are a migratory butterfly species as well. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172172,"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":[1148,7122,7120,26,99],"tags":[4004,7132,6041,6042,6767,7134,2387,7131,7123,7124,7135,7125,7133,6768,7126],"class_list":["post-57706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-mourning-cloak-butterflies","category-painted-lady-butterflies","category-utah","category-wildlife","tag-adult","tag-aromatic-sumac","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-fragrant-sumac","tag-lemon-sumac","tag-migratory","tag-mourning-cloak","tag-mourning-cloak-butterfly","tag-nymphalis-antiopa","tag-painted-lady","tag-painted-lady-butterfly","tag-polecat-bush","tag-rhus-aromatica","tag-vanessa-cardui"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mourning-cloak-butterfly-fragrant-sumac-mia-mcpherson-2436.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-f0K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101819,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/26\/california-tortoiseshell-butterfly-and-blooming-fragrant-sumac\/","url_meta":{"origin":57706,"position":0},"title":"California 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morning I am sharing a simple photo of an American Tree Sparrow perched in a Fragrant Sumac that I took last month near a freshwater seep in the desert.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Tree Sparrow on a Fragrant Sumac, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/american-tree-sparrow-adult-fragrant-sumac-mia-mcpherson-1313.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/american-tree-sparrow-adult-fragrant-sumac-mia-mcpherson-1313.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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