Well, We Weren't Expecting This!

Today we had a first-time returnee, the azure-backed Long Tailed Skipper, sampling a wide variety of flowers around the garden. Happy to see this one back. It was a much later arrival last year. 

Rick was walking back inside when he saw something fluttering by the edge of the driveway, where it met the side garden. He took some telephoto shots of the butterfly on the panicledleaf ticktrefoil, saw that it was the same kind of skipper, said "OK" and uploaded the card. 

Curious the way its abdomen was curled. And it had been bouncing haphazardly around the side garden, landing here and there. Hmmm. 
Rick went back to the plant, which was easy to find because it was a weed growing from the gravel. And there it was. 

And on a second  one nearby, two more. 

So now we will begin watching out for these caterpillars! Picture from the wonderful website, the Alabama Butterfly Atlas. Thanks.