Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
Accurately recording the butterflies seen in the garden this year is one of my goals, so I’m doing a bit of record keeping this afternoon to help me keep track.
Most of the time it is just a coincidence when I happen to spot one. That was the case at late morning when I noticed a Black Swallowtail flying around a front side border. It came to rest on some mulch in the front side bed and was patient for a brief time while I tried for a picture. Soon though I got too close. It lifted up and flew off over the house.
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
I scurried to the back garden to see if I could relocate the black swallowtail. Sure enough there was a butterfly in the meditation circle, but it proved to be a different one.
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
With a frantic flight pattern the butterfly darted from flower to flower, ignoring the usually popular verbena bonariensis in favor of Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’. I’ve been planning to clear out much of this penstemon from the meditation circle to make the path walkable again. But I may leave it a while longer. Bees love it and last year hummingbirds darted through it frequently, though I’m not sure if they fed.
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
With help from iNaturalist I identified the butterfly as a Pipevine Swallowtail.
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
The first butterfly I saw this morning, the black swallowtail, got away. I didn’t see it again today. No photo but I did see another Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) to add to my 2021 inventory.
pbmGarden 
I’m hoping we’ll see more butterflies on Friday posts, Susie. Best wishes for a wonderful weekend.
Great idea! Hope there will be many more butterflies this summer. You join in too. Yay! Have a good weekend.
Blogs are a great way to document the garden. I did buy a local butterfly book with the plan to document my visitors and so far have not kept it up. I’ve done better with birds.
Yes they are. My camera doesn’t capture birds well but I enjoy them.
More pipevine swallowtail – exciting. I saw a black swallowtail yesterday and a black swallowtail caterpillar on the parsley.
Exciting also! I bought seeds for parsley but haven’t planted yet.
Lovely photos. The swallowtails are such elegant creatures and seem to flutter just as a butterfly should!