Pipevine Swallowtail

Neighbors have planted a Dutchman's Pipe vine on their tall grey wooden fence as part of a project to restore habitat for this Swallowtail butterfly. It seems to be working! I've often seen the very hungry caterpillars, but this is my first sighting of the butterfly itself. I'm actually surprised that I got any images at all; this creature never stopped flapping--he was in constant motion and all I had was my trusty iPhone which I can't control very well. I wonder if he had just hatched and was drying out his wings. I've never seen that behavior before. The wing color isn't as brilliant as in some of the photos I've seen, but I don't know if the color deepens with age. Anyway, it was a lovely sighting on a dark grey day.