Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Thursday Thirteen 214: Blooming Butterflies



Last weekend being the final days for Olbrich Garden's "Blooming Butterflies" exhibit, a couple friends and I headed over to the Bolz Conservatory Saturday morning. We timed our visit well this year, as there were a lot of butterflies to be admired. Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

Oh—I have a laminated flyer bought during a previous exhibit to tell me the names of the vaious butterflies. I had it out just last month, but do you think I could find it when it came time to do this post? 'Course not. Naturally, it will turn up a week from now. The monarchs should be pretty obvious, but I'm afraid you're on your own for most of the others.




Spicebush Swallowtail






Giant Swallowtail



This Painted Lady decided to hitchhike a while on my friend's shirt. As you can see, the poor thing is missing a bit of its wing.





I found this one playing hide-and-seek among the tropical foliage.












This swallowtail started to land on my pants hem, then veered off and landed in the shrubbery. It was extremely rare to see these lying still, as they were some of the most active butterflies.



We had to look a-ways up for this one. It was pointed out to us by a kindly older gent who had noticed it. Smart butterfly—he found the orange tree!




This picture is actually from the outside gardens, where we did not linger long due to the high heat (90 degrees) and humidity. Not that it was any cooler inside the Conservatory.


Next week I'll share some of the other photos taken inside Olbrich's Bolz Conservatory. There are some really cool tropical plants here!






LINKS TO OTHER THURSDAY THIRTEENS:

(Please leave your link if this is your first visit!)

Alice Audrey * MissMeliss * Ron * Allstarme
Paige Tyler * Adelle Laudan * Sidney Bristol Janet * Darla M Sands * Colleen * Brenda Janice Seagraves * Tatiana Caldwell * Jana K Taylor * Xakara







23 comments:

Alice Audrey said...

Great captures. I'm looking forward to next week.

MissMeliss said...

Oh, lovely. Just lovely.

Heather said...

Alice: Thank you! Here's hoping you won't be disappointed next week. ;)

MissMeliss: Thank you--and thanks for visiting! *g*

Ron. said...

Beautiful. They're very short-seasoned up here. My Beloved Sandra and I have to travel to Montreal's arboretum to see them.

Mia Celeste said...

Oh, lovely pictures. You really captured the butterflies. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Cool list; great pics. I wish we had a place like that around here.

Paige Tyler said...

They're beautiful! Love butterlies!

*hugs*
Paige

My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

Heather said...

Ron: Thank you. The northern climes are short-changed in a lot of ways, aren't they?

Thanks, Brenda!

Allatarme: We are definitely lucky to have a place like Olbrich available to us year-round. One of these years I might actually get to their Christmas Express exhibit!

Paige: What's not to love, right? *g*

Janet said...

what beautiful butterflies!

Unknown said...

Very kewl. My girlfriend took a pic of a butterfly last week when camping. It looked like it glowed in the pic. I swear it is that swallowtail.
We have a butterfly conservatory here in Niagara Falls. The kids have been at least twice each on school trips.
Happy T13!

Darla M Sands said...

What a delight! Thank you for sharing. I always enjoy your photos and look forward to more.

Heather said...

Thanks, Janet! *vbg*

Adelle: I think I remember seeing the butterfly conservatory in NF many years ago, but we didn't have enough time to visit. Sounds pretty, cool, though!

Aw, shucks...thanks Darla. That just made my day. *G*

Jana said...

Oooo butterflies. Love the pics. I haven't seen a real live butterfly in so long! They've all fled the nasty heat, I guess. *sigh*

Heather said...

Jana: Thanks--sorry you havne't seen any in your backyard. If it's any consolation, they'll soon be migrating south to Mexico. ;)

Tatiana Caldwell said...

I'm not a big fan of insects, but butterflies are an exception. So very pretty!

Xakara said...

Absolutely beautiful! I love butterflies but I've only been to two exhibits. I have issues with things flying at me and landing on me. It takes a lot to be still and careful.

It's great exposure therapy for my insect phobia since I'm not afraid of them, but I am afraid I'll have a moment where I forget and swat, so I only try it once or twice a year.

With these images, I think I'll try again soon. *smile*

T13

~Xakara
13 Polys

Heather said...

Tatiana: I can't say I'm a fan of insects, either--especially large, ugly flying ones I almost step on in the bathroom in the middle of the night (yes, this happened recently). Butterflies are one big exception. How can anyone not like them?

Xakara: Glad to hear you make an exception for butterflies. I'm not normally a fan of anything that flies directly at me either. Very easy to be still inside the Conservatory, though. There are benches everywhere, as well as little nooks where you can stand back and simply admire what you see. And, unlike say...bees...this is one insect I don't mind landing on me.

Janice Seagraves said...

Very nice. I love butterflies.

Funny thing, butterflies seem to love my daughter. They'll land on her clothes, hair or shoes. Some times a whole swarm of butterflies will flutter around her.

They have a butterfly exhibit every year at the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno, and I used it for a scene in an MS I'm working on.

Janice~

colleen said...

The orange ones (monarchs?) remind me of Tiffany lamps. I've noticed there aren't as many butterflies this years as in years past. Maybe because it's been hot and dry.

I am Harriet said...

I have been noticing butterflies around here.

Have a great Thursday!
http://harrietandfriends.com/2011/08/calif-woman-wont-get-jail-for-feeding-bears/

Candy said...

Great post!
Love images you chose!

Happy Thursday!

The Gal Herself said...

Oh, these are beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing!

CountryDew said...

Lovely shots. I love butterflies and they're hard to get good photos of sometimes.