Shy ones…

Here are a few more sights from this past weekend, and these critters all tend to keep themselves better hidden than others I see.

I stumbled upon another ring-necked pheasant hen tucked into the tall grass and holding perfectly still, unlike her boldly-colored counterpart who I often see strutting across open fields.

Here’s another noisy-as-heck but super-hard-to-spot rose-ringed parakeet making a rare appearance.

Here’s another moor hen and her good-sized chicks sticking close to the reeds at the edge of the water.

Finally, here’s a butterfly we’ve glimpsed before but not in South Holland until now.

See that little white “smile” on the ventral (out-) side of its wing in the first picture? Well, that’s the “comma” after which the comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) is named. I read further that “the angular notches on the edges of the forewings are characteristic of the genus Polygonia, which is why species in the genus are commonly referred to as anglewing butterflies.”

In any case, they sure are shy little stinkers, and I’ve only seen them in Estabrook Park twice before, first on June 25, 2020, and then again on July 14, 2021, and both times they stayed deep in some bush and at awkward angles.

I guess I have to admit, though, that spotting the ones who would rather not be spotted is half the fun.