It’s amazing how a small, drab butterfly can lift one’s spirits on a dark, heavy overcast day with a constant threat of rain. That was the case last weekend when eight of us butterfly lovers set out to conduct the annual butterfly count at Panola Mountain State Park near Atlanta.

The yearly counts help researchers keep track of butterfly populations.

Butterflies prefer hot, sunny weather — the exact opposite of conditions last weekend. “It’s not a good day for butterflies,” said our leader, Phil Delestrez, a state biologist and one of Georgia’s top butterfly experts.

But, then, as we started out, we saw a small, gray butterfly fluttering around some wet grass in a wooded area — a Carolina satyr, a plain creature that’s one of Georgia’s smallest butterflies. It was enough, however, to bo

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