Joann Merritt's Essays

The Magic Of Butterflies In Spring
April, 1989

Let the invitation go out to all who love nature: Come fly away with me to the Magical Kingdom of Butterflies. All we need to do is find a sunny area with blossoming plants and flowers, pause a few moments and let the magic begin. Beautiful delicate creatures of various colors will flutter and drift by on the soft morning breeze. They are seeking sources of nectar for their mid-morning refreshment. Butterflies are very particular about the species of plants that they feed on, so we need a good variety of flowers. Some of them favor Dandelion Tea.

Bow to the Queen as she regally flies by, stopping now and again to bestow a royal kiss on the cheeks of nearby lucky flowers. Salute the Red Admiral as he comes sailing along. He isn’t red at all, just orange, black and white. When the sun shines on the hindwing of the Pipevine Swallowtail making it iridescent blue-green, you know a magic spell has been cast upon you. The spell is broken as the Pipevine moves, so we follow it hoping to again catch the breath-taking blaze of color. Another movement catches our eye and there’s the magnificent yellow and black Tiger Swallowtail lazily floating toward the pink blooms of a tree on Country Club Drive. Which should we choose to observe? No matter, for now we must see the two rows of yellow marks along the edge of their wings.

During the morning hours we also see Cabbage, Painted Lady, Funereal Duskywing, Horace’s Duskywing, Northern Cloudywing, Pearl Crescent, Mourning Cloak, Common Checkered Skipper and Texas Crescent.

If you still don’t believe in Butterfly Magic, think about this: These winged beauties turned the Midnat Bird Walk into a Butterfly Walk! This happened on March 27, 1989. Along with me were Donna, Allen, Sybil and Mark, who may need a little more magic potion!

We never knew what kind of plum tree was growing in our back yard until this spring. On March 20th it became apparent that we have a Magic Plum Tree. Fragrant white blossoms covered the tree and butterflies covered the blossoms. Many individuals of 20 species visited the tree during the next few days. Then the winds came, destroying this delightful spot. The butterflies were an unexpected surprise as I thought they came only in the summer and autumn months. We saw a few in February and some in early March, but when the Magic Plum Tree bloomed the 20th of March it was SPRING BUTTERFLY MAGIC at its very best.

Their beauty is reason enough for their existence.