A Rare Visitor...

So, this past Sunday afternoon, I was blessed to see a very rare visitor to my flower garden. I was inside the house when I butterfly caught my eye. I could tell from the shape and flight pattern that it was some kind of swallowtail. So I grabbed my camera and ran outside to get photos so that I could identify the species later as I had never seen it before except that it was reminiscent some tropical species I had seen at a butterfly conservatory I had visited a while back.  It only stayed in my garden a short time before moving on and I am so very glad that I happened to see it when I did otherwise I could have missed it entirely!

The species is called the Giant Swallowtail and is mostly seen in southern states and Florida where the caterpillar can be a pest as it feeds on citrus trees! A far cry from the trees that grow around here!

The flowers it was sipping on were Zinnias

And as it was flying away it visited some white cosmos and this Rose of Sharon

I was thrilled to have been a spectator, and blessed for the opportunity to photograph the moment and am glad that this rare butterfly found my little patch of heaven to nourish it on it's journey to warmer climates ... Personally, I'm beginning to think this may have been a sign from God giving me direction, telling me I need to be like this butterfly and migrate to warmer climes for the winter... heh heh heh 

Ü