Special Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to butterfly expert Richard (Dick) H. Smith for sharing his many years of butterfly knowledge and experience with me and for offering brilliant guidance and thought provoking discussions. And I would be remiss if I failed to mention his incredible patience in answering my incessant questions. Dick Smith sadly passed away in 2016; view my tribute to him here.
I would also like to thank Bob & Jo Solem for their encouragement when this butterfly obsession began in the summer of 2011. I am also indebted to them for sharing their vast knowledge of the Howard County, Maryland habitats with me.
And finally, my utmost gratitude goes to my daughter Danielle. She has taken my many scattered thoughts and ideas and consolidated them into a well-organized and delightful webpage that has far exceeded my expectations. Her many hours spent on this endeavor are greatly appreciated.
About:
Before the summer of 2011, I didnt pay much attention to butterflies. Of course, I would notice the occasional Eastern Tiger Swallowtail in the garden or the Monarch on its long journey to Mexico. All that changed in late August a day after Hurricane Irene left our area. There was abundant sunshine that day and amidst the destruction, the butterflies came out in great numbers at the local park. My daughter, Danielle, and I happened to notice this beautiful and tiny butterfly. It was my first macro shot and I had trouble focusing on something so small. Luckily Danielle figured it out quickly and took the shot for me. We sent the photo to our local butterfly expert, Richard (Dick) Smith, who proclaimed this treasure to be a White M. Hairstreak! I had no idea what that meant but was delighted at the excitement surrounding this discovery. I also learned there was a whole network of people interested in butterflies ranging from photography and gardening to habitats and conservation. As I began to notice more butterflies, I struggled with their identification and constantly began to take photos from every conceivable angle. Dick Smith helped me tremendously through this period, patiently answering my questions and offering insights to guide me. So, here we are a few years later and I wanted to use all of my photos to develop a photographic resource site that would assist others in the identification of butterflies in the Maryland area.
References:
The reference source for butterfly species occurrence levels, habitat, flight period, and host plant was Butterflies of Maryland: A Biological Summary and Checklist. The Butterflies and Moths of North America site was used for map data and butterfly wingspan ranges.
Please note that all photographs on this site are copyrighted, and cannot be copied, reproduced, or used in any way without permission.
