Yesterday I came across
this butterfly, which was lying on a path leading to the Evergreen Brickworks.
During wintertime I really miss butterflies. The return of insects in the
Spring is important for birds who depend on insects for their food. So swallows
(for example) can only return here once there are enough insects for them to eat.
If you haven't already discovered the Brickworks then check it out! You can see lots of fish and turtles and frogs there now that Spring has sprung. There is even a beaver, which comes out from time to time during the day. And lots of different birds.
Right now you can see three different types of swallow at the Brickworks; tree swallows (blue and white), barn swallows (blue on top, cream or "tawny" underneath) and purple martins (deep blue/purple). There are more swallows than just these three, but these three (and also cliff swallows) are the ones that I most often see in Toronto. Check out more info. about swallows here: https://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/types-of-swallows/
And here's a website with more information about the mourning cloak butterfly, which actually stays in Toronto through winter, but hibernates. Ken Sproule describes it as a "harbinger" of spring, which means that it announces that spring is arriving!
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