Rewilding My Lot

I was visiting my front yard, as I often do, and happened to notice something odd in one of the oak trees. On closer inspection, it turned out to be two Queen butterflies clinging on in a strong wind — the weather report said 16mph with gusts of up to 30mph and standing there I could well believe that.

This was odd on two counts: to see butterflies in my oak tree, and to see them apparently so exposed to the wind.

I most often see butterflies when it’s sunny, but I didn’t know where they go at other times. A little research told me that when the weather is bad they will shelter in places with crevices, e.g., rock piles, deep in tall grass, or in sturdy trees and shrubs. So that leads me to think that these two butterflies were in my oak tree *because* it was windy and that was their shelter. Apparently their feet can grip strongly.