Oh, The Joys of Mud-Puddling!

It was another vacation day for me, a tiny bit muggier than the day before, with a mix of sun and clouds. We got our house-related obligations out of the way first thing in the morning, then packed our daysacks, chairs, water shoes, and cooler into the car for a mid-May adventure.

Back in the old days when we had nothing, we were famous for this, my husband and I: just throwing some things into the car and heading out to the woods. The life of a day hiker is much easier than that of the backpacker. Because you don't have to carry so much with you, you can travel lighter, walk further, have a lighter step.

We hadn't been to Black Moshannon in a while, so we decided to go there. So we drove through the park and in fact to the other side of it, and parked near a stream called Six Mile Run that we used to hang out in, back in the old days. From there, we walked downstream and set up our chairs by the creek, where we doffed our regular shoes and put on our water walking shoes.

I had just bought a new pair on deep discount a few weeks back - the New Balance Minimus 70 ladies' water shoes - and I was anxious to try them out for the first time. The shoes sell online for $70, and I found them for $15 at T.J. Maxx. The $10 gift certificate I used for them brought them down to the actual final price of $5. Quite a good bargain, I thought!

And when I put them on and stepped into the stream, they felt perfect on my feet. They fit snugly and comfortably. The water was very cold, turgid, and higher than usual from last week's rains. Actually crossing the creek in the torrent may not have been advisable. So we decided to have fun slopping around in the more shallow areas. I declared their test run a complete success!

After we'd had our fill of wading, we packed up and headed back to where we parked the car, near a cabin and a big fishing/swimming hole in the creek. There had been a fisherman there when we arrived, but now he was gone, and we had the place to ourselves. So we set up our chairs again and settled in for a little time by the stream, before leaving there to go hike the boardwalk at nearby Black Moshannon State Park.

All day, I had been watching huge, bright yellow butterflies flitter and flutter up and down the creek. It was a regular butterfly fly-way! Up the creek: yellow flitter-flutter-flitter-flutter. Down the creek: yellow flitter-flutter-flitter-flutter. I couldn't tell if it was a bunch of different butterflies, or maybe just a single butterfly or two messing with our heads.

But when we sat near the swimming hole, it became clear that this day there was a butterfly-fest going on by the creek; a real party in the mud! A number of Eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies flew back and forth, up and down, and I even saw a dark one or two in their midst. Eventually I noticed a little group of them gathered together in what only could be described as a butterfly cuddle-puddle.

A single butterfly would start it, usually the darker colored one. It would land in a muddy spot by the creek and rest its wings. Then a yellow butterfly would land as close as possible to it. Then another yellow one would land on top of those. Then three more would show up. Then another one or two. It was like a pile-on in a football game.

Sometimes the butterflies looked like they were dancing, stomping their feet all around, moving and turning but not going far. Other times they would just sit quietly, as though simply enjoying each other's company. Of course, I had to grab my camera and get a few photos. First, on super-zoom, just in case I might scare them away. Then closer, and closer, and closer. I quietly inched my way up to within just a few feet of the butterflies before they startled and went spinning, floating, flittering into the sky. When I moved back to my chair, they gathered together again in the same spot.

I have seen this behavior only a few times before, and it is called mud-puddling. The butterflies in this photo are primarily male Eastern tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus). The darker butterfly, I originally thought might be a dark morph female tiger swallowtail. However, further investigation of other photos reveals orange spots on the under-wings. And so I believe that black one to be a spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus).

The purpose of mud-puddling is to obtain valuable liquid nutrients such as salts and amino acids. I am no expert on this subject, but Wikipedia suggests that male butterflies that mud-puddle enjoy greater reproductive success, and then later on, they pass along some of the nutrients they have gathered to the female during the mating process as a nuptial gift. (I am not making this up, people; I swear! Read more about mud-puddling here.)

I remembered posting a photo of puddling butterflies once before, and looked back though my Blip pictures to discover that I posted a similar photo almost exactly two years ago, on May 18, 2012. Like clockwork, these fellas. Spring has sprung, or so they say. Time to dance! And so let the joys of mud-puddling commence!

The song to accompany this photo of dancing, puddling butterflies is The Hooters, with And We Danced. :-)