Butterflies and ravens. I suppose I could have titled this one "Things That Fly." Here's the connection. Yesterday I posted a photo of a butterfly I found in my dining room a while ago. Actually, it's a photo of a watercolor painting of said butterfly. This morning, as I was reading the NYT, I came across a great article by Carl Zimmer about a report that scientists analyzing butterfly DNA vindicated Vladimir Nabokov's ideas about the evolution of a certain class of butterflies. Nabokov's ideas evolved before it was possible to do DNA "fingerprinting" and they were not taken seriously by fellow scientists at the time. So, on my way to work, I vowed to post a reference to this article on my blog. However, on my way to the gas station, I saw this great raven perched atop the Papa's Donut sign. Swerved in to get a few photos. This time I got lucky and he was bold enough to stand his ground for several shots. No other connection than that. Two natural history events that got my attention - things that fly.
The photo of butterflies mating was taken in the lower Feather River Canyon by Bear Creek.
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