Butterfly tree

Early last week the children took me to an oak tree outside their school, saying it was the Butterfly Tree. Sure enough, there were dozens of butterflies on the tree when we went up to it. They fly off in clouds when you approach, but quickly return. Some even landed on us. I was fascinated, and brought the camera back for pictures the next day, and the day after that. One of the days was really windy, but it didn't seem to deter the butterflies.

We mostly saw two species. This, I believe, is a Hackberry Emperor:



These two, who seem to be jousting for position, are Question Marks:


If you look closely you can see that they are drinking sap from the cracks in the bark:


This should give an idea of how densely covered the tree is. I count six butterflies on this root, and there were many more right out of the frame:


Unfortunately this is the closest I came to a spread-wing shot of the Question Mark. They are stunning: