Light as a feather

A beautiful Banded Orange Heliconian (Dryadula phaetusa) butterfly, photographed on 22 April 2010 in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo.

"The Banded Orange Heliconian (Dryadula phaetusa) is the sole representative of its genus. It is native from Brazil to central Mexico, and in summer it can be found rarely as far north as central Kansas. Its wingspan ranges from 86 to 89 mm, and it is colored a bright orange with thick black stripes in males, and a duller orange with fuzzier black stripes in females ....It feeds primarily on the nectar of flowers and bird droppings, and its caterpillar feeds on passion vines including Passiflora tetrastylis. It is generally found in lowland tropical fields and valleys." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryadula_phaetusa.

Had a volunteer shift this afternoon and then, this evening, I went to a very interesting and well-illustrated talk on the "new" park called Glenbow Ranch Park, that opened a few months ago, just east of Cochrane (which is NW of Calgary). This park is about the same size as Fish Creek Park, so it tends to mean a long walk/hike in to get anywhere, as there is only one main entrance. This area has an interesting ranching history (as well as many Native tepee rings) and wonderful scenery. Unfortunately, it's outside my driving comfort zone - but when I went maybe three years ago, before the park actually opened to the public, I found the hike too far for me, anyway.

www.tpr.alberta.ca/parks/glenbow/