Tell me a Story: May 2014

Tell me a Story is a group of photographers who post a circle blog of a day in the month of the blog.  It has been such a pleasure to join these ladies each month to share my day.

This month I wanted to go to something different and the Butterfly world has been on my horizon for a number of months but I have yet to get there.  Time was running out and I thought, just go, forget about the cost, just go and enjoy yourself.  Turns out it was Mothers Day weekend, and I am a mother, and so I got in for free.  Awesome !!.  Felt really good.  

What you find at the butterfly world, obviously, is butterflies, but you also find a selection of passionfruit plants and birds.  So here is my visit to the Butterfly world.  

Papilio Hornimani

Also known as the Horniman's Swallowtail this butterly can be found in the highland forests of Kenya and Tanzania.

Taeniopygia bichenovii

Commonly known as the Owl Finch is indigenous to Australia and can be found in areas of tropical dry grasslands and dry Savannah.  The sexes look very similar.  They are seed eating birds.  Typically they will build their nests in grass or low trees, and may lay up to 4 eggs.  

Lesbia Nuna

The Green-tailed Trainbearer Hummingbird is generally found in the South American countries of Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Boliva. Typically this bird has a couple of long extended tail feathers.  

Heliconius Erato Notabilis

You can generally find the Red Postman butterfly throughout South America.  It is normally quite hard to differentiate between the Heliconius butterflies.  The Erato butterfly has 4 dots just where the wings join the body.

Lesbia Nuna

The natural habitat of a Green-Tailed Trainbearer Hummingird is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrublands.

I was unable to identify this two butterflies but as it has seemed throughout spring "tis the season" for recreation and butterflies are no different.

Heliconius Erato Notabilis

And neither were these two.

Moving out of the butterfly area, I had to go through a series of gates and be swept off in case any butterflies had attached themselves to me.  Beyond the butterfly enclosure was a walkway of various passionfruit vines.  I was suitably impressed and came home and said to my husband he need to go out and buy one and plant it on the fence instead of the green creeper that he has growing there.  Some of the flowers were absolutely stunning.

Passiflora "Susan Joy" by Ron Bender

Butterfly World Hybrid

Passiflora "Byron Beauty"

Passifloraceae

Passiflora "Susan Joy" by Ron Bender

Butterfly World Hybrid

Passiflora "Monika Fischer"

Passifloraceae

Passiflora "Byron Beauty"

Passifloraceae

I can find lots of photo's of the various plants but little information. 

Beyond the passionfruit walkway, I entered into an avairy of tiny birds.   

Fringillidae

Otherwise know as the Purple Finch, this birds can be found breeding in northern USA and Canada, and migrating to Southern USA.  This bird's diet consists of seeds, berries and insects

Forbes Parrot Finch

The Forbes Parrot Finch can generally be found in Indonesia and surrounding islands.  They normally can be found in bamboo thickets, the edge of forrest and grasslands.  They tend to lay 3-6 eggs at a time.   

Trichoglossus haematodus

Also know as the Green-naped Lorikeet these birds originate from New Guinea. The Green-naped Lorikeet cage was very interesting because it was interactive. For a purchase price you could obtain a small cup of nectar and the bird would fly to you and feed off the nectar.  They are busy birds and have lots of toys to play with.  The lifespan of a Green-naped Lorikeet is approximately 20 years.  

Blue and Gold Macaw with a Scarlett Macaw

One of the most interesting facts I read was that if you are going to invest in purchasing a Macaw, do it while you are young.  It appears that these birds can live up to 100 years.  Macaws are the largest of the parrot family.  The Scarlet Macaw is known to be intelligent and very social.  These birds typically eat seeds, nuts, fruit, bark, sap, leaves and flowers.  The blue and gold Macaw is typically found in the forest and swamp areas of South America.  They too can live longer than 60 years.  Screaming macaws can be the result of a bored bird.  

Uraeginthus bengalus

Also know as the Red Cheeked Cordon Bleu can normally be found in the tropical sub-Saharan Africa.  This is a male bird easily identified by the red spot on it's cheeks.  The females do not have the red spot.  They are commonly found in areas of dry open grasslands, and Savannah. They generally feed on grass seeds, millet and small seeds.

Selasphorus platycerus

The Broad-Tailed Hummingbird can be found in the Western USA in the summers and they migrate to Mexico in the winters.  They will build their nests of lichen and plant down and will typically lay 2 eggs at a time.

Bucanetes githagineus

The Trumpeter Finch's breeding habitat can be found in the Canary Islands. north Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.  The Trumpeter Finch's diet consists of seeds and during the breeding season, insects.  They favor rocky crevices during breeding season and will lay up to 4 eggs.  

Poephila acuticauda

Shaft-tail Finches can be found in the savannah's of Australia.  Their diet typically consists of live food, green food and millet.  They will lay 3-6 eggs at a time.  

Spinus pinus

In the final avairy I came across this little bird commonly known as the Pine Siskin.  Pine Siskins are small songbirds.  They are seed eaters and can often be found where there is thistle seeds. The habitat of the Pine Siskin is deciduous forests and if you put out a thistle feeder you wil find them flocking to eat there.

Spinus pinus

This little Pine Siskin was having a blast in the bird bath, splashing, and then coming up and sitting for a while and then splashing again, and sitting back up. I stayed and watched it for quite a while.

Poephilia acuticauda

While I watched the Pine Siskin this Shaft-Tail Finch flew in and frightened it away.  

"I like this place, I would willingly waste my time in it"

~ William Shakespear

Remember to follow the circle blog and see what Julie Harrold has for you this month. Remember to leave a little bit of love in the comments section.

If you would like to see more butterflies click here for the 30 Minutes in Life Blog on the Butterfly world.

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my facebook page or my Flickr Page

30 Minutes in the Life: May 2014

In the life of a photographer, whose art is created in tiny fractions of a second, thirty minutes is a sustained thought.  Thirty, minutes, the length of a child's ballet class, a quick sauce's simmer; a commute, is long enough to witness change and short enough to be over before you know it.  We offer you here our monthly results of thirty minutes of watching and waiting and recording, of rendering permanent those fractions of a second that slip past in the time it takes to watch a television show.  Thirty minutes in the life ~ Sara Kelly

This month for my 30 minutes in the life I decided to try something different. I have been wanting to visit the Butterfly World in Coconut Creek for the longest time, but somehow never got there.  Last month Colleen shared her take on the Butterfly World.  She flew through in 30 minutes.  If you want to read her blog look for her link below.  

Colleen, however, warned me to spend as much time as I could in the first section of the Butterfly world, where you would view endless butterflies, but once you leave that section there is no going back.  So I spent more than my 30 minutes watching butterflies. 

I sat on the bench, leaned against the railing, hovered on the bridge, stood in the middle of the pathway, and ducked under the mister shower trying my best to protect my camera from the fine dew.

Butterflies are, without a doubt, incredibly beautiful. The varying colors were outstanding. One thing I learned from this visit was 1) butterflies do not sit still for very long, 2) You have to be watchful and fast if you actually want to capture them. 

So here is my 30 minutes in the life, inside the butterfly atrium.  

Idea Leuconoe

Also known as the Paper Kite this butterfly is of South Eastern Origin and are generally found in lowland rain forests and in coastal mangrove forests.  The bodies of these butterflies contain toxins and for that reason are rarely eaten by birds.

Heliconius Erato Notabilis
Also known as the Red Postman this butterfly, is typically the are found in Southern America. They can found from sea level to forest edges. 

Heliconius melpomene
Known in the USA as the Piano Key, this butterfly also seems to be known as the Postman Butterfly and can be found in Central America to Southern Brazil. This butterfly is recorded as being toxic.

Heliconius Ismenius
Also known as the Ismenuis Tiger or Ismenius Longwing, this butterfly is normally found in Central America and Northern South America in sunny tall forests.  They typically lay 1 or 2 eggs under leaf of a plant.

Papilio Hornimani
Also known as the Horniman's Swallowtail this butterfly can be found in the highland forests of Kenya and Tanzania.  

Idea Leucono

The bodies of these butterflies contain toxins and for that reason are rarely eaten by birds.

Morpho Peleides (Underside)
This butterfly is also known as The Emperor or Blue Morpho and can be found in Northern South America, Mexico, Central America and Paraguay, as well as Trinidad. I loved this butterfly but it sincerely frustrated me.  The inner wings were a vivid blue almost a turquoise, but as soon as the butterfly landed it closed it wings up.  All my attempts to catch the blue were blurry. This was an incredibly beautiful butterfly.  The greeter told me that they were typical to the rainforest area and the feed on fruit and in particular banana's.   An interesting fact is that the butterfly tastes the fruit with sensors on their legs.  

Caligo Idomeneus
This butterfly is also known as the Idomeneus Giant Owl and can be found in the Amazon Rainforest and Eastern Andes.  They gained their name from the owl eye like spots on their wings.  These butterflies eat off rotting fruit. 

Graphium Agamemnon

This butterfly is also known as the Tailed Jay and is typically found in India, South East Asia and Australia.  They are typically found in wooded areas and where there is generally a lot of rain, but more recently they can be found in lowlands and home gardens. Interesting fact on these butterflies is that the male butterfly can be found feeding on urine tainted sand.  

Piano Key - Heliconius melpomene

This butterfly feeds mainly on the passionflower vine.

Heliconius Erato Notabilis

The Postman Butterfly is a toxic butterfly and is foul tasting.  As a result the butterfly is fairly safe from predators.  The toxicity comes from the nectar of the passionfruit flower.  

Graphium Agamemnon

The Tailed Jay constantly flutters, and is typically very active.  They generally only fly low to the ground when they are looking for a host plant or flowers.

Hypolimnas Bolina

This butterfly is also known as the Blue Moon butterfly and is commonly found in New Zealand.  They are typically found in country wooded areas, greener habitats, and moist scrubs.  When laying eggs the female typically lays 2-5 eggs.  

Heliconius Erato Notabilis

Typically this butterfly will only lay a single egg on it's host plant.  

Morpho Polyphemus

Also known as the White Morpho this butterfly is generally found in Mexico and Central America.  The are extremely beautiful looking butterfly.  I could easily imagine hundreds of these butterflies being released at a wedding.  

Siproeta Stelenes

This butterfly is also known as the Malachite and can be found in Central America, and Northern South America.  They can also be found in Texas, South Florida and Cuba. The butterfly typically feeds on rotting fruit, flower nectar, and dead animals.  

Heliconius Erato Notabilis

An interesting fact is that just prior to the female emerging from the pupae the male butterfly will settle on the pupae and as the female emerges the male will mate with her.

I have tried my very best to identify them correctly, any error is solely mine.

Butterflies start as eggs, grow into a larva, go through the caterpillar stage, become a pupae and finally into a butterfly.  Butterflies typically have short lives, living for about 2 weeks, although it will vary from butterfly to butterfly. 

I have always been fascinated by the metamorphosis of a butterfly.  The transformation from an egg, to a worm, to a gorgeous dancing fairy, fragile and yet so resilient. So many times I have used the imagery of the transformation life cycle of a butterfly when mentoring a young lady. Sometimes we face a long journey of challenges, but at the end there is the promise of transformation, the promise of change, the promise of a beautiful new creation.   

"We are all butterflies.  Earth is our chrysalis"
~ LeeAnn Taylor

Please take a moment to follow the circle link and see what Janine Harris of White Salt Photography ~ Lifestyle Photographer, Melbourne, Victoria has to offer for her take on this months 30 Minutes in the Life.

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my facebook page or my Flickr Page

If you want to read Colleen Putmans blog of her trip to the butterfly world click here. 

To view the webpage and see images from Story in a Snap the weekly postings click here.