They will Soon be Gone Until Next Spring
… Butterflies, that is.
Summer of 2018 seems to have indicated a resurgence in the number of BUTTERFLIES when contrasted with the last three or four years, during which, there were alarmingly few!
When I began to notice Monarch Butterflies late in the summer, I watched for the appearance of their eggs on Milkweed leaves, then the caterpillars -- which I placed in large, mesh-covered, wide-mouthed bottles. In the bottles I placed fresh Milkweed leaves which the caterpillars devoured at surprising speeds.
As of three days ago, all of the caterpillars (6 total) in the bottles have formed their chrysalises (the pupa stage) and will eventually emerge a Monarch Butterfly adults.
To date, I have released one Monarch, one Black Swallowtail and one Tiger Swallowtail … very satisfying. I will photograph the chrysalises soon as best I can since the bottles and Milkweed leaves will make that a challenge; once photographed, I'll post the results.
For now, I will share some of the butterfly shots I took recently.
Tiger Swallowtail on Zinnia Flower
© A. Mac/A.G.
Monarch Butterfly on Zinnia Flower
© A. Mac/A.G.
Least Skipper Butterfly on Strawflower
© A. Mac/A.G.
Black Swallowtail, Zinnia Flower (Digital Art)
© A. Mac/A.G.
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"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." _ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Hmmmm … seems butterflies are persona non grata …
… or I am.
Maybe when we finally get rid of the mentally retarded lunatic in the White House, people will feel more like relaxing and enjoying the arts? Just a thought...
Excellent thought!
I especially like the Monarch butterfly on the Zinnia flower. Thank you, AMac!
Thank you for thanking me, KatPen.
I miss the butterflies. My neighbors and I talk about their lack of numbers often.
I was in a rental car on Friday and hit one on the highway.
All I could do was cringe.
They and dragon flies used to be everywhere. Now there are few of each.
P.S. Thank you for making this available to comment on without having to join a group.
More to come.
Thank you.
I need to create some areas for them too.
Plant Zinnias and Milkweed in sunny locations.
I have seen lots of dragon flies in my garden this year, this has been wettest summer I can recall.
Pretty butterflies
Bounce from flower to flower
Until the seasons done
Love all your photos.. so I wrote you a poem instead.
Really nice shots Mac.
Hummingbirds are also pretty much gone for the winter. Some of them left hungrier than they wanted. This little gal (one of the juvenile females)
was a total bully. She constantly drove her brother and both sisters away from the feeder so she could have all the syrup.
Well done! You have become quite adept at meeting a specific photographic challenge!
Posted a fourth image … a digital art butterfly image in sepia tone.
All four are great photos. Although, of course, butterflies and flowers may look best in colour, I'm knocked out by the sepia-toned fourth photo.
But wait … there's more!
It must be me 'cause it can't be the butterflies.
Butterflies are so rare where I am that I have little to offer.
Although judging from this tourist souvenir stand at Mount Emei (I posted a photo essay of my climbing that mountain) which is not that far from here, there is a variety of butterflies in the country, if not in urban areas.
I KNEW I had taken this photo a couple of years ago, and spent hours looking for where I posted it. I just found it on a photo-essay about a Taoist monastery at the foot of a mountain I had posted a couple of years ago. It was a huge butterfly, about 6 inches across.
Here we are in central Maryland, getting rain fallout from Florence and I saw my first Monarch of the season while putting out the trash.
Sorry, no pictures.
JUST RELEASED INTO NATURE -- this Monarch butterfly!
This afternoon, one of the Monarch chrysalises, pupae formed by the caterpillars I've collected this summer, opened, and out emerged this beauty …
Note the chrysalis at the right and the caterpillar at the far, mid-right; all told, I've released 4 Monarchs and two Swallowtail butterflies this summer. I currently have 5 chrysalises and 2 Monarch caterpillars in large plastic bottles.
It is very satisfying to be doing this.
My buddy in Ohio had eye surgery the summer and was homebound for a while She decided to 'foster' Monarch Butterflies to keep busy. 24 Monarchs, from egg to butterfly with pictures to everyone on a regular basis. It was beautiful to watch.