Mourning Cloak Butterfly: Maroon and Blue Shimmer

Mourning Cloak Butterfly   © SB

Mourning Cloak Butterflies are common across Canada, but I never noticed them until this week when two Mourning Cloaks came to my attention.

The first, I saw and took pictures of in Kananaskis, Alberta, when I was getting a mountain break from the prairies; the second — which led to my butterfly's ID — a friend recognized and photographed outside her cabin near Regina, Saskatchewan. (Thanks, Donna!)

Mourning Cloak Butterflies are large, with a wingspan up to eight centimetres. And although they may look black at first glance, in good light, their wings shimmer maroon or purple brown, with iridescent blue spots and a ragged butter-yellow border.

This butterfly's common name refers to, yes, a mourning cloak — a garment apparently worn by someone, somewhere (perhaps in Scandinavia?), during a time of bereavement... (The only example I've so far found online was designed to honour the butterfly — thus raising the question, which came first? The butterfly, or the cloak?)

They appear to be native to North America, and unlike Monarchs, which migrate, Mourning Cloaks hibernate  —  or, as the Manitoba site NatureNorth.com says, "spend the winter in 'cryo-preservation.'"

Where I live, in Regina, Saskatchewan, they are considered common pests. (Who knew?) Mourning Cloaks are the first butterflies to appear in this prairie city in spring, and — in sufficient numbers — the larvae are said to defoliate branches.

(The City of Regina suggests removing the larvae by hand, or leaving them to birds and wasps to devour. Yum... The nearby US state of Montana is perhaps friendlier to Mourning Cloaks, and has designated them its official butterfly.)

Pest or mascot, Mourning Cloaks are unmistakably beautiful. 

What is this? Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa; in the UK, Camberwell Beauty)
Location: Common across Canada, including the prairies; photographed in Kananaskis, Alberta. 
Photo date: September 9, 2012. 

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Common Grackles in Regina, Saskatchewan

A flock of more than 60 Common Grackles descended on my front yard in Regina, Saskatchewan, today, chattering from the grass, trees, driveway, sidewalk and bird feeder.

One Common Grackle returned to the bird feeder.   © SB  

The grackles scattered as soon as I eased the door open to take a photograph.

Most of these large black birds then seized space on the neighbours' yards, until a city bus belted down the street and drove the horde of chattering birds ahead of its wake.

Chattering. Yes, grackles are noisy. Imagine 60 creaky gates exchanging gossip at the back of a hardware store.

The sight of so many grackles, yellow eyes glittering, chilled me. What else would come to mind but The Birds?

But grackles are also highly sociable — all that cheerful clattering from trees and lawns.

And they are strangely beautiful, their feathers iridescent in the sun.


What is this? Common Grackle
Location: Front yard, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Photo date: August 22, 2012.

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