Day 314: I have to admit that I am really bad at butterfly/moth identification, but fortunately I'm good with a camera and I'm long on patience. Those two factors in combination mean that when I send a photo to BugGuide.net, the field marks are all visible for their skilled entomologists to review. Sometimes it's helpful to get a ventral view as well as the more aesthetic dorsal view for certain species (knowing which species is helpful), so butterfly photography is not a hobby for anyone who has a schedule to meet or a short attention span. I was on my way down from the end of the Paradise Glacier Trail before the Western Meadow Fritillaries had satisfied enough of their hunger to settle on Mountain Daisies long enough for me to find and zoom in on their bright orange wings, but they were very active in their exploration of each blossom, fluttering and rotating as they probed for nectar. If you'd been standing behind me, you might have heard me say, "Come on, butterfly! Just come up top and open your wings!" As if deliberately misinterpreting my request, said butterfly inevitably moved around to the back side of the flower or took off in flight. But did I know what I had when I had it? No. But I did have a submission for BugGuide which brought forth an identification of Boloria epithore, even if I did submit the image with the title, "Unknown on Erigeron peregrinus."
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