Mourning Cloak: a Grand Surprise

Catching some rays

I sincerely hope everyone had happy holidays and that your New Year celebration was both peaceful and filled with joy.

The New Year, for some reason, always has me skipping ahead to spring and summer in my mind.  This year my focus seems to be on butterflies, although typically I do not see them very often.  Perhaps I have simply not been visiting the right locations.  However, usually when I do see them, they are fluttering past me at speed, are high above me, or simply disappear, leaving me with little opportunity to photograph them.  But this past year was actually an exception and I'm hoping that this coming year will be the same.