Butterflies are such captivating creatures. Flashes of colour from beautiful wings that beat rapidly yet make no sound or vibration that we can hear or feel. A life cycle that involves a metamorphisis of such magical change that it leaves children and adults alike enchanted. Their brief lifetimes that serve to remind us, should we contemplate it, of the shortness and impermanence of our own lives.
The butterfly counts not months, but moments, and has time enough.
~ Tagore
This Spring, we have had many beautiful butterflies visiting our garden. From large-winged Orchard Swallowtails coming to lay their eggs on our Mandarin tree to pesky Cabbage Whites stopping in at the last of the kale. And yesterday, these two sweet little butterflies flittered and fluttered here for a while and stopped, just long enough, for me to take their photographs (after cheekily flying away again and again whenever I approached with my camera).
A pretty butterfly among pretty pink blossoms.
A resting butterfly on the leaves of lettuce.
Matching my photographs to the much more professional ones of Densey Clyne, in our favourite butterfly book, Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden, we found out that these two winged beauties are the Caper White (Belonois java teutonia) and the Meadow Argus (Junonia villida) respectively.
A useful and informative book filled with clear photos and profiles of many butterflies.
We have found that books like these, with clear photographs and easy-to-understand profiles, have been perfect for sharing with our boy and for learning more together about many of the amazing creatures that visit our garden or call it home.
Out in the garden, in the early morning sun of yesterday, it was lovely to be in the company of butterflies.
Meg
We were treated to a blizzard of caper white butterflies over the week-end. They were migrating from out west to lay their eggs.
ReplyDeleteThat blizzard of butterflies would've been beautiful, Sherri. There seem to be so many butterflies around at the moment. It's always lovely to see them in the garden. Meg:)
DeleteI'm glad you managed to capture the fleeting moment. Butterflies bring so much joy wherever they are spotted!
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! I love seeing butterflies in our garden and there have been so many this Spring. They are simply delightful! Meg:)
DeleteI have a friend who's baby girl died at 2 weeks old, she speaks to her lost daughter every time she sees a butterfly. Butterflies really do seem to be other worldy creatures.
ReplyDeleteHello, Sally. What a special way of staying connected to her beautiful daughter your friend has. I had a lovely friend who died after a long struggle with breast cancer some years ago now. Her three beautiful young daughters released butterflies into the air as they said goodbye. I think butterflies remind us that there is beauty and gentleness and grace in the world. Meg:)
DeleteDear Meg,
ReplyDeleteI always get excited when I see a pretty butterfly around here. We do not see them very often and I find them hard to photograph. So well done to you. We do get the white butterflies a lot, usually hanging around my veggies.
We had an awful lot of the hairy caterpillars this year. After a bit of research I found out they belong to a moth and not a spectacular butterfly.
xTania
They are very hard to photograph, Tania. I spent ages crouched down low and still trying to get a photo that wasn't blurry:) They seem to have a way of fluttering away when one is just about to click the camera. Meg:)
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