Sunday, April 18, 2010

Satyr Comma


The other day Nathan yelled, "I just saw a butterfly!" It was the first one he's seen at the house all winter. Yesterday we went to Glacier NP and the crazy things were everywhere -- in the air, on the ground, on trees, in the road, on Rick's shoe, and on my back. I got a few pictures, including the one above. This one was content sitting on Rick's shoe for about 10 minutes. I think I've identified it as a male Satyr Comma butterfly.

I love taking pictures of butterflies. They're so skittish, so it's not easy for me to photograph them. I guess that's what makes it so challenging. In California, the butterfly we saw most often was the Monarch. I believe we have those in our county here in Montana, but I don't think I've seen any yet. I took some pictures of a Western Tiger Swallowtail a few years back and one of those was published in Rural Montana Magazine.

What is your favorite type of butterfly?

10 comments:

  1. THAT is a lovely photo, Rena. I saw a Monarch pass through on its way north about two weeks ago, haven't seen any others. As for a favorite, that would be hard. I'm parcial to Monarchs because they have such an amazing story. But I also really like those Swallowtails that come in different colors.

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  2. Pretty picture! There is a place in Denver called The Butterfly Pavillion, it's awesome! They have a rainforest area where they just let all the butterflies fly around and therey's a little lake with a turtle etc. Every day when the new butterflies are ready, they let them loose, it's a lot of fun! We took home a kit once and a little net thingy and watched them become butterflies. The kids loved it! I don't really have a favorite, they're all pretty.

    Nancy

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  3. Nice! I'm looking forward to seeing butterflies flitting around again. As to my favorite type, it's whichever one is in my yard.

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  4. Beautiful butterfly! I don't see lots of them around here, and look forward to seeing some..

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  5. Oh Rena... this is beautiful. Great photo. This is a new one for me. I had not seen any like this ever.

    My favorite butterfly is the one I saw on a tropical island just off the coast of Brazil. We had sailed to an island for the day and as I walked through the forest trails I saw the most gorgeous cobalt blue butterfly. The color was so intense I found it hard to believe it was real. Since it soon flew from the branch it was sitting on, I was assured that was the case.
    The other fantastic creatures I saw that day were the leaf cutter ants busy at work carrying their load of leaves across my path. And of course the arguing Macaws who taunted each other until they were both hanging upside down in their tree.

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  6. Beautiful. I love them all because of the random, pretty way they just flutter through life.

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  7. You have a gift for photography. The only ones I've ever gotten a picture of were dead or captured.

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  8. Love your picture. I love all butterflies. We have butterfly bushes in our yard and they attract many of the beautiful creatures. I snap pictures of them in the summer.

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  9. I'm partial to all butterflies myself as well. I just love how they flit and float around all over the yard. Now that everything is finally blooming I'm seeing more and more of them. My son was driving the other day and we saw a black one on the driveway (the concrete part of it at least) and he tried to snap a picture with his cell phone but it didn't turn out too good. When we came back, I think the butterfly was still on the driveway, so it must have been injured but I also think my son may have run over it when coming back in - not realizing it was still there. I see several different ones flutter by in the yard when I go out sometimes. Great picture too. I love your pictures. Wish you would put a subscribe by email so I won't miss your wonderful postings. - E :)

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  10. Great picture! We get alot of Monarchs here. Our local zoo has a year round butterfly exhibit that is exceptional. The kids and I go to the zoo every other month or so and that is the first building they want to head to so they can see how the butterflies are doing!

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