Peggy Hanson

Sequim Sunshine Festival 2025!

We just returned from the drone show tonight at Carrie Blake Park in celebration of the Sequim Sunshine Festival this weekend, and I must say, it was WONDERFUL!

This was our first year seeing the show, but it certainly won’t be our last – and if you haven’t seen it, you’re really missing out.

Little did I realize that our city offered such delightful entertainment, not just this evening, but during the festival activities today as well. The list of bands and the music we heard as we strolled by the booths and refreshment stands earlier in the day was GREAT, and had me tapping my foot and wishing there was a dance floor.

And although we had a few sprinkles of rain, it didn’t dampen the atmosphere or the spirited crowd. Sequimites know how lucky they are!

Another Butterfly

Before I get back to my collection of Sequim photos, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to post one more of these remarkable creatures, which I found at Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale, AZ.

Since its Greek name is a true tongue twister, I prefer to use the more common and descriptive name, Crimson-Banded Red Rim, for this one, which was perched on a flower that I find difficult to identify. Aside from that, it attracted more butterflies than most plants in the garden, and photographically speaking, if became one of favorite images from the trip.

Do not fear though…tomorrow I’ll be back with more locally based images, that is until April, when I plan to ask more of my photography friends to provide images during the two weeks that I plan to be in Florida. There I’ll be photographing my favorite subjects, BIRDS!

Close Encounters…

Owl Butterflies, Tiger-Striped Longwings, Malachites

Apparently, this is the time of year when butterflies seek their mates and put on a display like no other. Although we didn’t witness much of their encounters, what we did see was quite entertaining, and educational as well. Never did I dream I’d be Googling, “butterfly sex”, in order to learn about what I’ve been missing all these years, and to share it with you. Nonetheless, if you’re interested, here’s the drill, according to www.kidsbutterfly.org/faq/behavior/4:

“Male butterflies find females by sight, and use chemicals called pheromones at close range. If the female accepts the male, they couple end to end and may go on a short courtship flight. They may remain coupled for an hour or more, sometimes overnight. The male passes a sperm packet called a spermatorphore to the female. The sperm then fertilize each egg as it passes down the female’s egg-laying tube.” And…according to this website, “Male butterflies mark their mates with a stench to ‘turn off’ rival suitors”….go figure!

And why didn’t I learn about this in the 50s and 60’s? Probably because it wasn’t taught!

But aside from that, I want to apologize for the hiccups on the blog yesterday. I can only blame evil digital demons, since I did my part, but somehow, my post was truncated and I wound up reposting. Thank you, loyal readers, for hanging in there, and as always, for your kind comments.

Orange We Special?!

Butterfly Wonderland, Scottsdale, AZ is indeed a wonderful place to find hundreds of beautiful butterflies, and as luck would have it, this particular one was perched on a Mexican Flame Flower of the same color, and a similar name.

Commonly called the Julia butterfly, the flame, or flambeau, is a species of brush-footed butterfly, native from Brazil to southern Texas and Florida, and in summer can sometimes be found as far north as eastern Nebraska.

While dodging these winged wonders and having them land on our heads and hands, both my husband and I indulged in their beauty and agility. And, we watched in wonder as some attempted to mate, but as we discovered later, male and female butterflies may go on a courtship flight that can last for an hour or more; but with our limited time and my long, heavy camera/lens combo, we weren’t about to wait that long.

However, I do have some very close encounter images, one of which I’ll share with you tomorrow, just for “porn” sake.

Arizona Landscape

Primarily, I consider myself a bird photographer, and since Saguaro cacti are magnetics for cactus wrens, capturing one was my first thought when finding this statuesque 8-armed prickly beauty.

Although the birds refused to cooperate, I knew the clouds in the distance would be a rare occurrence during our visit, and since the temperatures were higher than normal for this time of year, the landscape before me was parched, but enticing enough to afford a photo – and my first one on our trip.

Over Mt. Shasta

This view was a perfect and unexpected ending to our long awaited trip to Phoenix and Scottsdale, AZ.

I rarely have a window seat that affords this kind of view, but since when we had such great seats, I was planning on getting a phone shot of Mt. Rainier through the porthole. Leaving Sacramento afforded an excellent view of Mt. Shasta instead, and later a chance to see Crater Lake from the air as well.

With that said, our trip on the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island was a sea of fog…but nonetheless, coming back to Sequim was the best part of our journey. Little did I know how much I’d miss our gorgeous TREES, the color GREEN, and CLOUDS!

So if you should catch me complaining about the cold, or anything else we have in Sequim, please remind me that we’re truly in God’s Country and some of the luckiest people on the planet!

Not Exactly Sequim…

We’re back from the desert and before I say more, I want to thank both Lewis Bennett and Ardythe Wyndt for filling in for me last week. It helped to make our stay in Phoenix much more enjoyable, and I know you readers appreciated seeing their work.

With that said…it was quite a week, and I came home with hundreds of images from our trips to two botanical gardens (I was craving a “green” fix from the moment we stepped off the plane) and Butterfly World in Scottsdale. I hope you’ll enjoy sharing in our adventures in the week ahead. If anything, this trip made me appreciate the Pacific Northwest and Sequim much more than I ever envisioned!