I've been spotted the stunning Red Admiral butterflies off an on again for a week or so, but as the temperature has started to warm and the sun has come out, especially in the late afternoons, I've been seeing these splendid lepidopterans more and more. By five or six, there are often several enjoying pools of sunlight in the grass or low on tree trunks, and, equally often, I see two or three flying in spirals together—perhaps in preparation to mate, or maybe attempting to best a rival... it could be both. Vanessa atalanta isn't, in the strictest sense of the word, a native species, since the egg, caterpillar, and pupal stages can't deal with the cold. Our temporary population is the result of migrants from the south who, every spring, head north to our area, enjoy breeding possibilities and nettles for their youngsters, and then head back to warmer areas, breeding along the way, to raise a surplus of Admirals, some of whom may head back here next spring, if conditions prove favorable. It looks like a fine year for the species... and a fine year for Admiral photographers.