The fluttering dark and red colors about four feet off the ground caught my attention as I walked away from the Detroit River Hawk Watch at Lake Erie Metropark.
I watched as it landed on a fallen brown leaf on the green grass, walked up slowly and discovered it was a beautiful Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterfly.
Black with white spots and reddish-orange solid bands on its wings, the Red Admiral is a common butterfly in Michigan.
And one of the thousands of butterflies that will soon be migrating south to warmer weather.
Sadly, I only managed a few photos before the butterfly took off in flight.
