A Special Visitor - Giant Swallowtail sighting in my Oakville ON Garden

How wonderful to find yet another new creature in the garden - this southern visitor was hard at work collecting nectar when I spied it in the garden.  It is tricky to take its photo because it beats its wings continually when it feeds.  

When the wings are open, you can see the dramatic pattern across its wings.

And then on the underside, it's completely blond.  Talk about being perfectly reversible.

I'm so happy I didn't weed out the extra patches of milkweed early this spring.  It's just like having an extra casserole in the freezer - making me perfectly prepared for all of those out-of-town creatures.  Makes me wonder who's going to show up tomorrow?