I had seen this little Checkerspot butterfly out of the corner of my eye for a few days at Fort Hill but was unable to photograph it. It never came close enough until… We were walking on the trail by the marsh when it alighted on a leaf by the side of the trail. We were able to take a few photographs of this pretty butterfly.
I did a little research and found that “Checkerspot (butterfly), any of a group of small to medium-size butterflies with distinctive orange, black, and brown checkered patterning on their wings.”
Have you ever seen a Checkerspot butterfly? Pretty little thing!
I love walking up the steps and along the path to Nauset Beach, part of the National Seashore, in Orleans on Cape Cod. The beach fence is perfect with the waters awaiting in the distance. So inviting…
If you walk along the ocean beaches on Cape Cod, you are sure to see seals swimming along the shore, diving in and out of the waves. I’ve seen a lot of seals at Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Beach in the past few days.
If you walk all the way to Nauset Spit at low tide from either Nauset Beach or Coast Guard Beach, you can see what I call “seal island.” It is a sand bar, not too far from shore, that the seals pile on at low tide. You can hear their distinctive sounds from quite far away.
This 2nd photograph was taken from the end of Coast Guard Beach a few days ago.
I have seen snails such as this one at Fort Hill before, but always on the ground near the trail. This one really caught my eye as it was high (about 5’up) in one of the bushes on the side of the trail. I wondered how it got there, but then I saw that it was attached to the leaf. It must have made its own way up. Wow!
In the 2nd photograph, can you find the snail on the leaf in the center of the picture? Amazing that it was able to make its way up there on such small branches and leaves.
Have you ever seen one of these land snails?
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
