0 favorites     0 comments    168 visits

1/640 f/5.6 108.0 mm ISO 80

Panasonic DMC-FZ40

EXIF - See more details

See also...


Keywords

nature
underside
Danaus plexippus
Nymphalidae
milkweed butterfly
Calgary Zoo
Danaini
Scabius
wings closed
wings usually
Alberta more
2012 climate
Calgary
Lepidoptera
flower
insect
wild
butterfly
rare
summer
seen
gardens
Canada
Alberta
Monarch
change macro close-up beauty


Authorizations, license

Visible by: Everyone
All rights reserved

168 visits


A Monarch in the wild

A Monarch in the wild
Normally, in Calgary, a very rare Monarch butterfly might be spotted in the city - I'd only ever seen one, from far away. This summer has been different for some reason, with Monarchs travelling to Calgary and quite a bit further north in Alberta. The one in my photo is the fourth one I've seen this summer. Robin, a botany friend, and I had bumped into each other at the Zoo on July 24th and then gone our separate ways. I was busy photographing flowers in the zoo garden a bit later, when an excited Robin found me and let me know where there was a beautiful Monarch near by. It was enjoying the Scabius flowers. Thanks, Robin!

www.monarch-butterfly.com/

I found this beautiful, time-lapse video (only four and a half minutes long) on YouTube. Worth looking at if you have a few moments to spare. "It shows the entire lifecycle of the Monarch butterfly from a tiny caterpillar hatching from an egg on a Milkweed leaf through metamorphosis to become a glorious adult butterfly. Filmed utilizing high powered microscopic cameras and time-lapse photography. Produced for the Chicago Nature Museum in Chicago, IL."

youtu.be/7AUeM8MbaIk

The link below is to an article by CBC News, about the surprise appearance of Monarch butterflies in Central Alberta this summer.

www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/06/20/monarch-butte...

If you have more free time, this is a longer video by NOVA, about the amazing 2,000-mile migration of Monarchs to a sanctuary in the highlands of Mexico.

video.pbs.org/video/1063682334

Comments

Sign-in to write a comment.