March 4 Butterflies are Blooming!

Saturday:  I picked Kaity up this afternoon at 3:00. We were headed on over to "The Gardens" to see the butterfly display. Kaity was outside playing with her best friend (and next-door neighbor), Kenzie, when I arrived. So Kenzie was invited to come along with us. Her parents gave the approval and even the extra cash to get Kenzie into the exhibition. Both girls were very happy about the arrangement.

This first batch of pictures are just of the butterflies and flowers in the Meijer Gardens Conservatory. I'll do a separate "post" with pictures of Kaity and Kenzie. 

First of all: It's EARLY in the butterfly exhibit season ... later in the month and early on in April, there will be more butterflies flying about. Also, we visited on a Saturday and it was SUPER crowded. The next time I visit (I hope to), I will go alone, early on a sunny morning a bit later in the month.

This butterfly (below) is everyone's favorite. I got zero pictures of it with wings opened (inside the wings are an absolutely gorgeous color of blue). This the Common Morpho butterfly (from Central and South America).

My almost favorite thing about being inside the Conservatory is the intense heat and humidity. It makes me happy from head to toe!

We saw a lot of Postman butterflies (again from Central and South America) ... they were everywhere.

Here is the Tiger Longwing (Central/South America) ...

And here is a Zebra Longwing (Central/South America).

I tried to take a few shots through a cleft in the rock (in the tunnel) and this is the best one I got.

Here are the chrysalides and cocoons. My brochure says that 1,000 new chrysalides arrive each week at the Gardens. The Horticulture staff unpack and pin them for display while they await their transformation into butterflies. Hmmm ... metamorphosis ... kind of like what Christ does with people who come to Him in faith! He makes entirely NEW creatures of us.

Look at the Postman that has just emerged from its cocoon!

I can't find a picture to identify the one below--perhaps it is just a variation of a Postman.

Hopefully, later in the month there will be more varieties to see and photograph. In past years, I have been lucky enough to catch a picture or two of the Julia, the Costa Rica Clearwing, a Blue and White Longwing, a Tiger Longwing (Central/South America), as well as a Blue-Banded Swallowtail and African White Swallowtail! My favorite, though, was the Leopard Lacewing and the Paper Kite ... and I got a picture of a rather mangled Atlas Moth (from Asia)--which are gorgeous in color and design. 

I have more pictures, but they are of the young ladies who were with me! See next post ...