Coitus Interruptus

Had I not been paying attention to the two spinning cabbage white butterflies I would have missed it. Furthermore, had I not paid attention to last spring's courtship and mating flight of the lemon yellow butterflies, I would not have known its significance.

The IT to which I refer is the dropping out of space by a robin (I think it was a robin, though I can't be sure, falling and retreating as it did in the shade of The Wayback---definitely gray---either a robin or a mocker) to snatch one of the dueling cabbage whites from the act.

The two had been courting in the upper yard and had just taken their excitement into the shadows of The Wayback, when WHOOSH, a vertically descending fluttering bunch of gray feathers scooped one of them away. Afterward, a lone white returned to the sunny part of the yard, looking hangdog, if my imagination serves me correctly. dkm