Lilacs Peak Early in 2012

Because of the freakishly warm spring this year (in Rochester, March was our warmest on record, and the average temperature was higher than the April average), this year the lilac festival peaked a whole week earlier than the festival (May 10-19). On a beautiful sunny Sunday I went to Highland Park to view the lilacs early, and then home for the Kentucky Derby.

The lilacs were pretty much in peak bloom. Even the lilacs in our yard were blooming. This year the Rochester area also saw a massive influx of Red Admiral butterflies. There were tons of them. I’ve never seen anything like it, they were flying everywhere like flies. Anyway, took lots of photos of the lilacs, and butterflies on lilacs. The majority of the lilac photos are in my lilac flickr gallery.

beauty of moscow
Beauty of Moscow

pink lilacs
Pink lilacs at Highland Park.

lilac bush
Lilac bush at Highland Park.

butterfly lilacs
Butterfly Lilacs

Red Admiral Butterfly
Red Admiral Butterfly

lilac butterfly
Red Admiral on a white General Sheridan lilac.

After my walk through Highland Park, I went downtown to High Falls, and walked across the Pont de Rennes bridge to the baseball stadium and back. Here’s a few photos from that walk. I have a lot more photos of the falls in infrared on my infrared flickr page.

downtown rochester
Downtown Rochester

infrared high falls
Infrared High Falls