18th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Mobile
Delight and Surprise: A Red Admiral butterfly and a green tree frog visit my pink zinnia.

I was deadheading flowers in my garden when this beautiful, brilliant butterfly flew in and landed on the pink zinnia right in front of me. I had my iPhone 8 Plus in my pocket in case my husband needed to reach me in an emergency. He had just had heart surgery. To my delight, the butterfly stayed and posed for me, gathering nectar, while I slowly slipped the phone from my pocket and snapped this amazingly, sharp focused, photograph. To my surprise, when I went inside and saw the photo, I discovered that a tiny green tree frog had also been visiting that zinnia.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 07.2020
Date Uploaded: 08.2020
Photo Location: North Oaks, Mn, United States of America
Copyright: © Gretchen Stein