A western gulf fritillary butterfly rests on a bare branch of a crape myrtle. Its wings carefully outlined and colored to match its small fuzzy body.
Could it be a hint of spring in the middle of winter? With daily temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s, old man winter may be losing his grip. This is good news for butterflies, surviving the winter. Butterfly expert Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, notes that the butterfly can be killed by hard freezes.
So far so good!
But a word of warning, in several weeks baseballs will be flying and bats will be swinging as Spring Training kicks into gear. So to all those fritillary butterflies out there flying around McKechnie Field and Pirate City, keep your head down, it's spring!
Grant Jefferies, a native of Palmetto and chief photographer at the Bradenton Herald, has been capturing moments in the lives of Manatee County residents for over 25 years. Images from the streets of Cuba and Haiti to the clay fields of the Little League World Series and beyond have been captured through the lenses of Jefferies' cameras. Jefferies can be found on his sailboat when his feet are not on land.
Tiffany Tompkins-Condie is in her 13th year as a photojournalist at the Bradenton Herald. Through the years she has covered crimes and carnivals; feasts and floods. Her postings will vary from events in Manatee County's back yard to the work of photojournalists covering the stories of our times from around the world. 
Paul Videla has been a staff photographer with the Bradenton Herald since 2002, when he made the move from Detroit, Mich. When he's not working,
he enjoys hunting for unique LPs at the area's plethora of thrift stores and continually works to improve his baking chops(as the records spin and his dog waits for handouts).
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