First Fritillary, our house

The first bellflowers of the year have opened in the meadow across the street, and where there are campanulas, there will soon be Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies. The caterpillar members of the Speyeria cybele clan don't really dine on bellflowers—they prefer violets—so the co-occurrence of blossoms and butterflies is probably a coincidence based on mutual "flowering" times. Still, I've often spotted Great Spangleds on campanula flowers, so maybe the timing isn't entirely coincidental. This gorgeous specimen, however, was discovered as the beauty was visiting our Sweet William patch, and after it drank its fill, it stopped by the Mountain Laurel blooms for free samples. Then it disappeared into the woods, but it'll be back. And, with the fritillary season started, it'll bring friends.