Morning, Mourning Cloak

This AM, my daughter’s cat Cali started meowing mournfully before the front screen door. She desperately wanted something outside. As a formerly outdoor/indoor kitty, she suffers when birds or bugs come close by door or window. First look, I didn’t see the object of her torment, with appropriate name: Mourning Cloak. The butterfly genus is quite common back home in Maine but 10 years living in California this was my first sighting. I grabbed Google Pixel XL, which was closer reach than Leica Q, and stepped outside for a closeup shot using the smartphone. The butterfly had taken residence on the adjacent neighbor’s window shutter.

I cropped the portrait for perspective, 16:9, but did not otherwise edit the pic. Vitals: f/2, ISO 50, 1/120 sec, 4.67mm; 10:26 a.m. PDT. I sometimes catch moths and bring them inside for Cali to chase, catch, and eat. But I couldn’t doom the lone Mourning Cloak, being such a rare beauty. Had it been one of the many White varieties, well…