These are all butterfly species that I have recorded in my yard over the past two years. In 2011 there were more Monarchs and Queens and in 2013 the numbers of all species were down. I am a bit alarmed as are many other individuals who are concerned with conservation and preservation of all things in nature- not just butterflies.
Birds have declined in numbers as well and scientists, naturalists and, conservationists are scrambling about in an effort to determine what needs to be done to stave off the loss of any species. “Frankly” from my little ole perspective- there is not much to do except curb pollution, wide spread use of pesticides, herbicides and, human population. And now speaking “earnestly” I don’t see much hope unless laws are passed for limiting human reproduction to stem the tide of habitat loss. More people equates to more vehicles, more homes and loss of natural resources. Last but not least the use of pesticides and herbicides has probably wrecked the most havoc by killing off bees, butterflies and, birds.
If you are one that must use either one of these killers then do not entice butterflies or bees to your yard. One can learn to garden and grow crops without the use of a herbicide or pesticide. I know, for I’ve been growing all manner of fruits, vegetables and, yes, I have even had a nice lawn when my husband believed a yard was not complete without St Augustine grass. Organic gardening reaps many benefits not only for humans but it proves beneficial for the bees, butterflies and, birds.
Sachem skipper? nectaring on Mexican plum (Photo 3/18/2014)
Sachem skipper? nectaring on Mexican plum (photo 3/18/2014)
Gulf Fritillary, nectaring on Mexican Butterfly Weed, July, 2013
Giant Swalowtail. Mexican Butterfly Weed Spet. 4, 2013
Giant Swallowtail, Skyflower Sept. 4, 2013
Variegated Fritillary, Skyflower Sept. , 2013
Variegated Fritillary, nectaring on zinnia Sept, 4, 2013
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, early migrant- nectaring on Skyflower August 31,2013
Sleepy Orange, nectaring on Skyflower, Oct, 2012
Monarch on Frostweed, Sept. 26, 2011
American Snout, nectaring on Frostweed, October, 2011
Painted Lady, nectaring on Skyflower (duranta)
Pearl Crescent, nectaring on native Aster, late Spring
src=”https://petspeopleandlife.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/372.jpg?w=500″ alt=”American Snout, nectaring on Frostweed, October, 2011″ width=”500″ height=”437″ class=”size-large wp-image-5127″ /> American Snout, nectaring on Frostweed, October, 2011[/caption]
Monarch, nectaring on Frostweed, October, 2011
Monarch, nectaring on Mexican Butterfly Weed, July, 2012
Giant Swallowtail nectaring on Mexican Butterfly Weed, August, 2013
Giant Swallowtail resting on a tomato leaf. A lucky shot for me. Wish that is has been a flower.
Ceraunus Blue nectaring on Lantana, June, 2012
Northern Cloudywing, nectaring on Scabiosa July, 2013
Fiery Skipper, nectaring on lantana June. 2012
src=”https://petspeopleandlife.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/069.jpg?w=500″ alt=”Gulf Fritillary, nectaring on Lantana, July, 2013″ width=”500″ height=”447″ class=”size-large wp-image-5208″ /> Gulf Fritillary, nectaring on Lantana, July, 2013[/caption]
Queen, male- nectaring on Mexican Butterfly Weed, Summer, 2013
Bordered Patch nectaring on Frostweed, Fall, 2012
Texan Crescent resting briefly on some leaves. June, 2012
Eastern Tailed-blue nectaring on fall blooming native Wedalia November 14, 2012
Black Swallowtail caterpillar feeding on dill
Black Swallowtail female laying eggs on diil which is a host plant. The dill comes up “volunteer” in one of the garden areas that I made for the butterflies.
Cloudleess sulphur- not sure of this one Nectaring in Salvia Greggii in March.
Red Admiral obtaining moisture from the rocky soil
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Oak Hairsteak nectaring on African Blue Basil, Summer
Question Mark, sipping water from a mud puddle in the backyard, late spring
Tawny Emperor.I found this one in a pile of leaves one cool morning in October. I almost killed it by accident. I put it on a log to get warm so that it could fly to a nearby nectar source.
Pearl Crescent on native Aster. Summer.
Viceroy, fall.Resting on on the twigs of a tree. Looks similiar to Monarch. A faded butterfly here.
Hackberry Emperor, on the chimney bricks.
Northern Cloudywing down in the leaves in November, 2012
Common Buckeye nectaring on fall blooming Frostweed.
Bordred Patch is quite pretty but like a faded rose this one is bedraggled and faded.
I was going to write and or work on one or more posts but decided to get this long dispaly of butterfly photos out of the way. There are more posts in draft form but I can’t get really motivated although I feel that these will make pretty decent posts. They’ve sat over in the holding pen in a state of torpor. I’m afraid that most are now sick since the poor things have been dormant for so long. I hope to rescue those soon by giving them a bit of oxygen to breathe some life into those torpid and puny posts. 🙂 I’ve been in a state of torpor mysel for months, and I’m just now beginning to have enough energy to see what sort of damage I can do on WP.
The butterfly pictures are decent and some or not. Some of them are not good but again they are part of a record from my little habitat. Some of the butterflies are faded in the fall and are not at their prettiest. One or two I can not positively identify. I simply could not get a good view of all the markings. But I put a name on them and if these are not correct then someone I hope will put the proper name of the “flutterby” in a comment.
Bloggers that I follow who are extremely good nature and landscape photographers :
Andrew Hardacre: http://ajh57.wordpress.com/
Just Rod: http://reflectionsinpuddles.com/or
Steve Gingold: http://sggphoto.wordpress.com/.
Say It With a Camera http://mikehardisty.wordpress.com/
Most of these photos were not easy to come by. I had to do lots of stalking and creeping about and then stand or crouch like a statue. Such unattractive stances for a woman!
I hand hold my 200mm zoom for just about all butterfly photographing. Yes, the pics would be a tad sharper if I had used a tripod but there is no time to set up a tripod. And I can not sit or stand out in the Texas heat waiting for a flutterby (Rod’s name for butterfly.) I’ve debated with my self whether to get a 300mm zoom which would enable me to get some bird pics as well. On the other hand I doubt that I can hand hold the 300mm since it is a heavier lens. But it would be a USM IS Canon and a far better lens than the kit lens that I now use.
Three butterfly photos had been lost in a maze of folders. I wanted to use the best one of the Texan Crescent. I had cut it and then pasted to a new folder. But when I renamed the folder that folder attached itself to some other place.
I emailed Val and she gave me directions http://artyoldbird.com directions on how to find the lost photos and I now have them in a properly named folder. Val is a good friend who is super smart. She is a Word Press and HTML expert who has given me a 100% correct answer to everything that I have asked. Astonishing memory and an incredible artist. Super funny too. At the moment her blog is there but is inactive till sometime in September.
I have not proofed this post as I should. Frankly I am sick of it for I worked hours and hours getting the pics in named folders. I’ve spent way too many hours trying to correct some of the picture insert mistakes. I’ve decided to leave well enough alone. So enough already. 🙂
Post and phoptographs: Original content property of Yvonne Daniel.
Please do not steal any photos from a little ole lady. These are not
excellent but at the same time some of them or not too bad either. 🙂
Please do not reblog my hard work. Thank you.
Pets, People and, Life 
I liked every single kind of butterfly you displayed in this post. Thank you for trying to labeling them. I appreciate saving the one in the pile of leaves, too.
Yvonne, this was an amazing collection! 💐
Hi Robin and thank you for having a look. I think I have all the butters labeled correctly except two or three. 2011 and 2012 were the years that I shot all those photos. Last year I saw maybe 12-14 monarchs and this year I have seen only one. I am very afraid that the Monarch is in deep trouble and that will be such a shame. There are monarchs west of the Rockies that winter in southern California. And a non-migratory population in Florida. But those that breed in Canada and in the northern and eastern states migrate through Texas. They are so beautiful and many folks consider the Monarch their favorite.
Robin I too am glad that I was able to see the butterfly in the pile of leaves that I was raking. When I saw it I said aloud,”oh no, I almost killed you with the rake.” It was a chilly day and I suppose it was in the leaves hoping to overwinter in the pile of leaves where it would be warm. I have seen a few of the emperors this year but they have always been on the fig trees nectaring on some of the rotted fruit on the tree. I could not reach all the figs that were high on the tree so any fruit that had been partially eaten by birds or squirrels attracted the butters.
Hello Yvonne ! What a treat to open my laptop on this very cold morning (early Fall) and find your gorgeous series of butterflies, flowers and this feel of Summer ! Your butterflies – papillon in French, or “papeeyon” – are simply beautiful and your photos so clear and well composed ! Congratulations. I love meeting one of those lovely creatures as I work in the garden, walk in the fields or in the woods. I have noticed how a special kind of white butterflies particularly enjoy the lavender bush and another one, orange, tiny is often seen on our high mountain pastures flying from one alpine flower to the other. Delightful flashes of color. Thank you Yvonne, you did a wonderful and patient work, have a pleasant weekend.
Thank you, Isa for the very nice comment. I appreciate your kind words. So I have learned today that your country has four languages. I had no idea. I wondered why you are French speaking. So it is French, German, Italian. and Romansh or something like that. And the government speaks Swiss-German which is basically low German. I hope I got that right. I think the word papillon is so pretty. Just like a butterfly. That is why the little dog was named papillon I suppose for its ears look like butterfly wings if one uses their imagination. Those alpine meadows that you speak of sound absolutely too beautiful for words.
So, dear Yvonne, you have been “visiting” my country ?;) Yes, although Switzerland is very small, we have four national languages. I happen to live in the French-speaking part (20%). But at school we have to learn another national language, German being the most important (75%) I chose it. Then because I loved Elvis’ songs (don’t laugh please) I learnt English and never regretted it. Ticino state, at the very South of my country, is where Italian is spoken (my Dad comes originally from there). Romansh is spoken by very few people in an alpine canton near the Austrian/Italian border. So here we are in a mosaic of cultures and languages. In the government everyone is allowed to speak in one’s own language but mostly it is German and French.
Bonne journée, have a pleasant day 🙂
Yes, that is what I did per “Sir Google.” 🙂 I find all that so interesting and I am very glad that you learned English for it is wonderful to be able to communicate with a European via our blogs. I have learned about people and cultures so blogging has been good for me. Thank you, as always for your lovely comment.
These pictures gave me enormous pleasure – and clearly many others as well – so hopefully you feel it was worth all the trouble.
Thank you so much, Hilary, for the lovely comment. I am quite satisfied if my photos are at least decent and if you find them easy on the eyes then that makes me very happy. I aspire for better ones and hopefully the new lens that I have ordered will be here in time for me to capture new species as the fall migration gets into swing. Thanks so much for having a look.
Regards, yvonne
Ooooh-oooohhh, look at all the pretties! Fairy Blogmother, you have a lovely collection of delicate beauties here. The first picture is so brilliant, it appears to be a still frame from a Disney movie. As I looked at it, I felt like bursting into a rhyming song about what a beautiful day it is, the birds are singing, la-di-dah kind of stuff, with all sorts of animals that usually don’t get along (like, say, cats and dogs, cats and mice, elephants and mice) all frolicking together in the background in a choreographed jig, sewing a ballgown or helping sweep out the chimney. It’s that gorgeous!!
The Monarch on the Frostweed (Oct 2011) is really cool because I like the angle of it……it’s unusual for a butterfly pic and that makes it more interesting to me. Great shot!
Swallowtail on tomato leaf is awesome……I think it’s cool that your garden is so beautiful and tasty looking that butterflies are happy to land on your tomato leaves (phttttt, no nectar there?)
I like the muted colors of the Ceraunus Blue…….it’s gray and blue and silver all at the same time, which is very very cool. Understated.
The Bordered Patch w/ the white flowers is another great shot, since it includes a bee – Daily Double points for that!
The dill w/ caterpillar is sweet……and lastly, I especially liked the Hackberry Emperor, partly because he sounds so important, but mostly because he is hunkered down on the bricks, which gives the photo some great texture. I love the earth tones in this shot – again, I am a simple person and I love earth tones in my clothes, decor, etc. So I love this one a lot.
I hope to see this beautiful garden some day!
I’m excited for you that you are getting another lens……..I hope you find what you are looking for, sounds like you are getting all kinds of good advice. As a photo novice, I cannot help you there, but I know that whatever you get, you will put to good use…….looking forward to more butterflies and lizards…….All that creeping and slithering about in the garden will keep you in shape, for sure! 🙂
Blessings to you.
Oh my. I’ve never gotten such a wonderful and inspiring comment before. It really has caused me to grow an inch- even at my age. Imagine that? 🙂 These really are not all that good- but the photos are good for me since I don’t have an expensive lens and I hardly ever use a tripod. The sun is so hot where this butterfly strip of plants is located. I can usually run into the house and grab my camera if I happen to see a butter. I so appreciate the fuss you have made over the photos. I hope if I am around next year to have better ones. And I certainlhy hope that you can visit when the butters are around but this little butterfly habitat is not in anyway a garden per se. Just some plants throw our along a chain link fence.The other spot for the frostweed is all natural and looks like a neglected part of the yard which is more than a few feet from the house. I drive my little e-cart to that site to look for butterflies.
Thanks so much for all the good words.You are so thoughtful.
Your FB Mama, yvonne
Oh I’m glad you found the photos, Yvonne. And thanks for the mention. 🙂
I’m fascinated by that American Snout butterfly, I’d never seen or heard of it before this post and have just spent a while on Google reading about it.
Did you know the original name for the Red Admiral was Red Admirable?
Val thank you for looking in and commenting and for the really good instructions. I’ve never paid any attention to the search box. For some idiotic reason I thought it was a dud just sitting up there and that it did not really do anything. I’m glad I found the three pics and they are of the Texan Crescent. I had one other for the crescent but it was not so good. The abscent three are not that good either but none the less they were the only other ones that I had.
I think the snout is unusal too. It is pretty but then I think that all the butters are pretty. About the Red Admiral. I had no idea that is was once named the Red Admirable. Now that IS interesting.
Yvonne, I enjoyed the way you captured the beauty of these butterflies and caterpillars and flowers. I know how challenging it can be to get nice sharp images. You could frame some of these! Hope you are enjoying these late summer days. Soon the butterflies will fly away from here…
Hi Kathy. Aren’t you supposed to be getting things in order for that beautiful school where you work? But thank you for having a look at the butters. I hope that those leaving the north will make a stop over in my yard and sample some of the nectar that I am offering. And thank you for the compliments. If I’m around next year I hope to have sharper ones as a result of a better lens. 🙂
Yvonne, yes, I’ve got things in order for school now. It’s ready to start on Tuesday. Just enjoying some of this beautiful late August warmth and sunshine. How fun that you’re getting a new lens!
School here began on Monday I think it was. Yes, I suppose you’d best enjoy the sun while you can before those north winds blow. I’m thinking of you and your husband having to move logs from the wood pile to burn in the funrnace/stove. I reckon that winter will not be that far away for you guys. And, gee whiz your winters are long ones. REEEAAAALLY LOOOOONG! 🙂
Oh my, I am a bit late Yvonne, I’ll hope you will forgive me. You have so many butterflies in you garden! they are all beautiful and you have identified them all! this is tremendous work.
We have some of them overhere.
Great post thank you so much for sharing.
Chatou you are not late. I don’t think that you got a notice of the post. Several bloggers did not get an email so I figure that you did not get one either. Thank you for the kind words. I did not know that you had some butters the same as in the states. 🙂
I understand better now, as I was surprised to see all these butters!
Yes we have the Red admiral, the Black Swallowtail caterpillar and a Sulphur but I don’t know if it is exactly the same!
Chatou I went to Google to get the names of the butters that are in Europe and North America. Some are also on other continents but these I am listing for comparison of Europe and US.
Painted Lady, Red admiral, Monarch, Cabbage white. There might be others but these are the ones that I found in a mini search in Google.
Thanks for letting me know. Now I am a wee bit smarter. 🙂
A feast for the eyes. What a lovely collection. No, I wont steal them but am tempted. I had a camera years ago with lots of lenses and photographed crabs. Don’t ask me why crabs. They are very shy creatures and at the merest disturbance are very quick to get back in their sandy holes. Anyway, trying to sell my camera stuff it turned out that fungus had grown in between the layers of the lenses.
I liked also the names of the plants that the butterflies landed on and find it a hoot that your herbs are grown for butterflies to lay eggs on or even eat.
Northern Cloudy wing on the leaves is a shot that I would give first price to,. Wonderful! It lifts the spirit.
Gee Gerard if only you had been more careful of your camera you could have gotten a bit of money from the sale. So you lost interest in the crabs and now you most likely eat crabs. That is I am assuming that Australia has edible ones as well. Or were the ones that you photographed edible as well as secretive?
Thank you ever so much for the lovely compliment of the Cloudywing. I think that one is incorrectly indetified. The little bitty ones and that one is itty bitty, are very difficult to identify. I have looked up so many photos in Google of dark colored butterflies that I now have butterflies imprinted onto my eyeballs. And I am still not sure. I’ve forgotten which one is posted and I’ll need to go back. Don’t know that I can correct it or not since WP has “spells” sometimes.
PHEW! I’ve found you at last! Just like Steve, I never had a notification of this, your latest post and if I hadn’t seen it mentioned on Rods post then I might not have caught up with you for ages. I’m so sorry Yvonne, you must be wondering why on earth I haven’t been here earlier. WP has been acting strangely of late, sometimes it won’t even let me leave a comment – fingers crossed that it doesn’t play up today for your post.
Your flutterbys are excellent and so many varieties too. I love the black swallowtail caterpillar on the dill plant, what a handsome fellow eh? You take such lovely pictures, you deserve to splash out on a new lens, especially since it gives you so much pleasure and for us too seeing your work and hearing about what goes on in your world.
As you know I take photos purely for fun, I am not a photographer so really can’t justify the expense but I did twist Irishman’s arm and bought a macro lens a few months ago 100mm which I really love for taking close ups. Hopefully you will find the right one for you and you may even be lucky and find a good second-hand one. It’s an expensive game this photography for sure but you need the right kit for the job or else it’s frustrating, especially as you have such wonderful nature all around you. Even if you do have to contort yourself into weird shapes and positions to take it!
I’m so glad to see you back on here Yvonne and I’m looking forward to seeing more of your excellent photographs soon xxx
Darn I am not following my own advice here. I’ve now lost 2 replies to you. Will cut this short for now I am ticked off. If I hit the return too hard this thing totally flips out and does its own thing of erasing. Thanks for commenting. WP is royally screwing up as of late. But as least you were able to comment. I aim to take your advice and get a new lens. Yes the camera equip. is expensive. But I live simply so I figure I will indulge myself before I bite the dust. I might as well get some pleasure in my old age and photographing is a huge joy for me. I’m glad that you got that 100mm macro. I probably won’t get a macro for I want to get back to doing birds again. Just need to figure out which lens I want.:-) Thanks Lottie for the lovely comment.
Fantastic, Yvonne, I’m really glad you are going to bite the bullet and buy one.You should indulge especially as photography is such a pleasure for you. Andrew’s the bird man and knows what lens to go for.
WP drives me absolutely crazy at times – sorry that it’s playing up for you too 😦 keep well and speak soon xxx
Awwh thanks Lottie. Just to let ypu know how crazy WP is or maybe its my computer, I was proofing a new post and highlighed 5 words to erase. When I used the backspace tab it erased 5 paragraphs. I was more than ticked. I tried to restore the draft and there was no draft to be found. Then I looked at the five photos that I had posted and instead of five it had duplicated every one so I that there were two of each photo. How in the world do I always have such odd ball things going on in this blog? I’m gettind down right paranoid. 🙂
That sucks, poor you. I’m the worlds worst when it comes to anything technical and computers so I really can’t offer any advice. I save drafts all the time and touch wood I haven’t lost anything yet but I know that I would be so mad if what you describe above, happened to me. Putting a post out is time consuming enough without having to endure added problems. Maybe you should contact WP help and see if they can offer any suggestions as to why this happens? It might take a day or two for them to get back to you but I’ve found them to be very helpful when I’ve run into problems. Don’t get paranoid! We all love you and care about you and know what a lot of effort you put into your posts – they are always much appreciated xx
TThanks Lottie. I don’t have much success with Wp. I’ll probably email Val and ask her opinion. I have much better luck asking Val than I can ever get out of Wp. She makes it simple and I AM SIMPLE MINDED! 🙂
My apologies for this late comment, Yvonne. I did not receive notice of your post and was surprised but glad to see you mention it on Rod’s recent posting.
This is an excellent selection and you have done quite well in amassing these plus you have done a much better job than you give credit for. These are the environments and conditions we see most butterflies, few are sitting prettily on a flower with no background to interfere and I actually enjoy seeing them where they live. This is an awesome collection of species.
I agree with Andrew that the 300 f/4 would be a better alternative for hand holding than the 180 macro. The f/4 is not very heavy and more affordable than the faster model (2.8). I have not experienced the zoom but I think the newer one is pretty expensive also and am not sure about its weight. The 400 f/5.6 is a good choice for catching the butterflies and dragonflies also in flight. I don’t use one but Andrew does so he is better to comment about that. The only remark I will make contrary is that the 180 allows for closer approach when possible.
Thanks for the kind words and link, Yvonne. I appreciate that very much.
Thanks Steve for seeing that I had mentioned a post. I think that a few or maybe more people did not get a notice. I have no idea what is up with WP. You can check out the edit part of blogs that you follow to see if maybe my blog got dropped or unchecked for immediate delivery. Odd things keep happening with my posts. Lottie did not get a notice either. Anyhoo, thanks so much for the very valuable info re: the lenses. I get better advice from my blogging friends than from the camera sales guys where I get my equipment. You are quite welcome re: your link.
A wonderful flyby of flutterbys (or should that be flutterbies in plural?). What a lot of work you went to. I have been out in the woods and only had mobile phone to look at so missed the excitement when this post came out. Thank you for the mention, but I don’t think I belong in such exalted company – but I’ll take it 🙂
Still laughing over the oxygen…
<em Rod, thank for taking time ot comment. Hope you were out in the woods getting some interesting photos. I really liked the ones you have in today's post. I'm glad that you think or is it thunk? 🙂 that the lifeless drafts needing O2 is funny. I just wish that I were as witty as you. But you come by it naturally. 🙂 As for as the exalted company is concerned, I believe that each one of you have your own style of photographing. You might not have shot as many photos as the other guys but I would not have mentioned you if I did not think that you are just as good. I like what you photograph and appreciate the beauty that you have captured. So hold your head high and carry on, Sir!
Beautiful photos, Yvonne. What a wide variety of butterflies you have in your yard!! Blessings dear friend. ♥
Hi Isabella. Thank you for the lovely comment. Blessings to you as well.
What a post, Yvonne, to see these beautiful photos, calming & lovely, then to read that they are not well, from lack of oxygen, if I read it correctly, sad, but then that is how life goes; one minute lovely another depleted or whatever. We both understand that. I’m so glad to see that your energy is returning. It’s our lifeblood, energy. Hugs to you, friend!
Hi Paulette. Just the posts need O2 to breathe some life into them. I was joking about the posts. My humor is vey dry sometimes and maybe some people do not “get it.” I will email you, MAYBE later, to ask a question. Thank you for the nice comment.
OMG, I am laughing my big fat A off (at least I’d love to be laughing it off!). I thought when you wrote dormant you were referring to the butterflies and that somehow they were fading for some reason from lack of oxygen and that you were going to do something to help them when… Too too funny that I misread this. Hope you’re laughing along with moi.
Yes, by all means feel free to e-mail me any time.
Hugs, P
Yes it was funny.
Yes, I can see how it came across that way. My apologies. xoxo
Oh my, Paulette. Not to worry. I’ve made strange comments that are laughable mistakes as well. 🙂
🙂
stunning images, Yvonne… I’m getting ready to try some pastels and something tells me butterflies will be among my first projects 🙂 Hoping you’re well and having a great week
Hi Scott. It is so nice to get your lovely comment. I will be visiting your site again if you will be doing butterflies. That is a must see for me and to see how you are progressing in your work. I am better than I was but not totally well. Irregular heart rate. I need tests to determine what is causing the problem. 🙂
You have such a variety of butterflies. Great pictures. (Love the caterpillar.) Lantana is nature’s grocery store – so many creatures love it. We have several that came from a ragged survivor on a sand dune in Galveston – it was doomed as construction for a development was starting. But it’s just flourished and is the most hardy plant we have.
Got a laugh over the posts “holding pen in a state of torpor.” I know that feeling. (Proofing is so boring, too)
Enjoyed visiting. Nicely done!
Thanks for visiting, Karen. You are right about the lantana and all that it entails as being a marvelous nectar source for the butterflies. I am glad that you rescued the lanatana and I’m sure it is grateful as well. 🙂 It is an easy grower that only needs a bit of TLC for the first year or two and then a bit of water if the summers are too dry.
So very beautiful. It never fails to amaze me how complex and “intelligent” the design within nature is.
Thanks so much Tracy for dropping in to view and comment. You are correct in your assessment of nature’s works of art as I like to call them. Butterflies just happen to be my favorite example as these tiny creatures are so fascinating.
What an amazing selection, Yvonne. Your stalking has done you proud. I appreciate all the toil and trouble you went to to get these posted. And thank you for the kind mention. 200mm is good for butterflies. I use my 180mm.
Thanks Andrew for the nice comment. I was more than happy to give you a mention. You are extremely talented in your avocation. The 180mm that you use is a macro? That lens makes a huge difference as far as I can determine. So maybe that is what I should aim to aquire. Must see about that.
Yvonne, the 180mm is heavy. I don’t recommend it without trying. The 300mm F4 is a better option and you can pick up used ones in good condition quite reasonably. The minimum focus distance is 1.5m and it has image stabilization.
Andrew I appreciate the information. I had not tried to hand hold a 180 for the camera store where I buy all my equipment did not have one in stock. I did try one of the 300 USM IS but I can’t remember if it was a f4 or not. I think the new ones are pretty expensive but I will check it out soon. I’d like to have a new lens in time for the fall butterflies. They’ll begin coming to the Frostweed as soon as it begins blooming in about 3 weeks of so.