American Copper

The American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) is a butterfly that packs a lot of beauty into its quarter-sized frame. You can even see its banded antennae here. I like these photos because it looks like the butterfly is standing next to snow or that it's a giant butterfly standing on a wooded, snow-capped mountain. I took these on Saturday at the World Series of Birding. American Coppers are frequently encountered flying low over the ground. One of their host plants, Curly Dock, is abundant there.