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.
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