While most butterflies overwinter as eggs or pupae, there are a few including this one, the Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma) that overwinter as adults. They wedge themselves in crevices in trees, behind loose bark, or under loose shingles away from the worst of winter.
You’ll see them out on trails on warm sunny days during the winter and early spring. Certainly the first of the butterflies in the spring.
See that bright white mark on the ventral side of the wing, the mark that if you use your imagination might look like a comma? That is why this butterfly is called “comma.”