The Common Buckeye, an Ohio Butterfly

A couple weeks ago, Stephen and I took a walk at Charleston Falls. He decided he wanted to walk in Octagon Prairie rather than walk through the woods to the falls. Fall is a good time to find insects in the prairie and Stephen likes insects.

If you look really hard you may be able to find the Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia). I saw the butterfly flit by me and down into the grass. It took me a while to find it. There is a large plant whose stem goes from upper right to the bottom of the picture at a slant. One of its leaves juts out to the left near the bottom of the picture. The butterfly is just above the tip of that leaf. I took a few photos with my Fujifilm JZ300, hoping I had the butterfly somewhere in the photos. I did. Wonderful digital camera, wonderful computer. Here is the cropped photo.

I have seen quite a few Common Buckeyes this year. Some years I don't see any. I looked it up in Butterflies of Ohio, a field guide by Jaret C. Daniels and found out why this has been the case. He lists the Common Buckeye as a Visitor to Ohio, not a Resident. He notes that it is common in some years and rare in others. Wonderful field guide.

I wished I had a better photograph to put on this blog and Tom got one for me about a week later with his Canon with its macro lens and multitude of adjustment features. This butterfly was in the patch of prairie near Cedar Pond, another feature of Charleston Falls Preserve.

I awoke in a grumpy mood this morning but as I have sat here remembering this butterfly my mood has improved considerably.  The rest of the day will be good.