Tiger party

This was one of those times where I should've moved slower and planned better.  I looked up from watering the plants on the deck to see four tiger swallowtail butterflies on one of the butterfly bushes!  While I have noticed a lot of the tiger swallowtails this year, I don't know that I've ever seen four at one time.

Silly me - I had my phone in my pocket, and not wanting to miss an opportunity, was pulling it out and turning on the camera as I walked closer to the bush.

Tiger swallowtails tend to be a bit skittish if you move around them too much, and as I got closer, they all took off - look close and you'll see at least one in the air above the bush here.

At least I had a witness - the neighbor was sitting out on her back steps, and I don't think she saw me (blocked by the arbor vitae) until after she saw the butterflies take off.  When she saw me, she asked if I had a "butterfly tree", and what was up with all the butterflies now flying around in the air, in her backyard, etc.  My fault - I spooked them.

That's not the only butterfly bush in our yard.  I've lost a bi-color this year, and I have a white one that doesn't do much for me nor, apparently, the swallowtails, but the purple and blue-violet ones really get the attention!

This one here is right off the edge of the deck, and I had to tie it up this year because it's gotten so massive it falls over.  Smells great on the deck at certain times of day, and looks beautiful at twilight.

There's two in the picture above, but not as easy to see and in this next picture, where one of them flew off by itself, easier to see.