April 19 Those bloomin' butterflies

Wednesday:  Since it is getting late now in April and the butterfly exhibit ENDS at the end of this month, I wanted to go one more time--this time alone--and take a few more pictures of these beautiful creatures. I thought perhaps a Wednesday morning wouldn't be too terribly crowded--afterall, school is back in session following Easter and spring break ... but I was wrong about the crowded thing! It was pretty busy--I've seen it with MORE people, though, with a long line to wait in order to get into the conservatory--at least I didn't have to do that!

I'm posting a ridiculous amount of pictures--these are the best of the almost 200 that I took today. The butterflies were EVERYWHERE, and were very amenable to having the photos taken. Yay!

I don't recall ever seeing this particular butterfly before (below). I never did see it with its wings opened.

The Common Morphos were in abundance ... everyone's favorite butterfly it seems. Probably because it looks so entirely different with its wings spread out--the most gorgeous blue inside.

I'm pretty sure this is a Leopard Lacewing [Asia] below. It's one of my personal favorites.

See the gorgeous BLUE sneaking out from the wings of the Common Morpho?

Below might be an Orchard Swallowtail [Africa], but I can't be sure ...

I had never seen this particular butterfly before, and I decided that I liked it very much.

This one with the rather mangled up wings (below) is a Great Mormon [Asia]. I wished it had landed on a less distracting background ... 

Below is some type of Swallowtail (I think) ...

I think this one (below) is called the False Zebra Longwing [Central/South America] ...

And isn't this little orange butterfly so pretty? It might be a Julia Longwing [Central/South America] ... but I'm not sure!

Here is another Great Mormon, although he is difficult to see. I had to climb up on a rock just to get this shot--and I couldn't get behind him to do a better job.

It was a little chilly Wednesday morning, but I wanted to try to get my walk in and the trees were budding everywhere ... so I took a brief walk to see what I could see.

Deep into this swampy area I could see a swan nesting ... so I'll want to come back in a few weeks to see the cygnets for sure.

Altogether, I only walked 1.5 miles--but it was a beautiful 1.5 miles! I met and talked with an elderly woman on the boardwalk. We stood silently for awhile listening to the birds sing and all of the other sounds that you hear if you are quiet enough ... we exchanged just a few words, wished each other a pleasant day, and walked in opposite directions.

I love this time of year. It's SO interesting, isn't it? To watch everything come alive once again is SO thrilling. I'm thankful that winter turns into spring, aren't you?