R. K. Cook's video: Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies Puddling At Forks of Creek

HANK WILDING'S JOURNAL: There's lots of names for a group of butterflies — flight, flutter, swarm, rabble. But the one I like best is kaleidoscope; it seems to fit the colorful critters, especially when they mass together in the curious ritual of puddling. Puddling occurs when kaleidoscopes of male butterflies congregate in a moist area, such as mud, carrion or even dung, for the purpose of sucking up nutrients to aid in courting and reproduction. Think of it as Spanish fly for the flutterby — let's be honest, folks, that's a way better and more logical name for this flibbertigibbety bug. Here at Katydid Acres, the sandy beach formed by the confluence of Big and Little Cotton Indian Creeks becomes a puddling paradise every March through May for Eastern Tiger Swallowtails. This year (2016) the kaleidoscopes have been especially prolific. I never tire of watching drunken knots of flutterbyes vibrating their wings at crazily hypnotic speeds, or seeing neat, militaristic phalanxes being bowled over like tenpins by the wind. And their chaotic takeoff, sometimes encouraged by a tossed handful of sand, is like seeing a shower of yellow confetti miraculously raining up, not down. I like the last picture an awful lot. A pretty boy flexing his perfect wings and a wounded warrior with big chunks missing from his. In the sweepstakes of flutterby love, they've got an equal chance to impress the ladies. By the by, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is the official butterfly of five states: Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia — proof that lawmakers, when they can get their heads out of their bums, are capable of noble deeds. You never know what you might see if you get out of that chair and GO WILDING!