Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Satyrium californica

5 more pictures in notes above! About a month ago, I found a butterfly on our property that I'd never seen before, a California Hairstreak. I managed to get a few nice pictures but unfortunately my dof was not deep enough to include the entire butterfly in crisp focus. I was a bit sad about that, since I didn't know when I'd get the chance to take more pictures of these beautiful little butterflies. Yesterday I was discovered another patch of milkweed flowers, and these are very healthy and doing well with bright green leaves and flowers which are only now peaking with many more to bloom. Wonderful news for me, because I am raising Clio Tiger Moth caterpillars and they are eating like pigs! I have begun to worry if I would be able to find enough leaves for them, since the other plants I know of are starting to die. Finding this new patch has filled me with great relief because there will be enough food for my oinker-pillars! :) Another thing that I love about this patch is that it's very close to the house, and today I went over with my camera to see the visitors, and I saw the very butterfly I'd been hoping to find!!!! This time I was very careful to choose more aperture settings to be sure I'd get a nice selection in focus. I also made sure to move around to the side of the butterfly that the sun was hitting instead of staying on the side which was shadowed. Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker. Her birthday on June 27 is commemorated as Helen Keller Day in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and was authorized at the federal level by presidential proclamation by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, her 100th birthday. Wikipedia: Jesse Owens Explored on August 23, 2013. Highest placement, page 2 (#39).

I liked the way this picture turned out too. I am always amazed how long insect proboscis' can be! Did you know that the Morgan's Sphinx moth has a proboscis that is just over 30 centimetres (1 foot) long?!!!!! INCREDIBLE!!! It's used to reach nectar in an orchid that hides its nectar almost a foot deep into the flower. It's also known as Darwin's Moth because Charles Darwin predicted its existence some 40 years before it was discovered! Wow!!!

This is a butterfly that I've never ever seen on our property before, in all the 7 years we've been here! Isn't it stunning?! I followed this guy around taking pictures but unfortunately, most of the images could only be taken with the sun behind the butterfly, so they lack the shine I wanted. This picture has wonderful sharpness around the face, but sadly, my dof was not deep enough to clearly capture the entire wings. Live and learn!! More about this butterfly from Wikipedia : The California Hairstreak (Satyrium californica) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from British Columbia south to southern California and east to Colorado. The wingspan is 25–32 mm. The upperside is brown with an orange spot on the hindwings. The outer edge of the forewings usually has row of orange spots. The underside is brown-grey with orange crescents and a postmedian band of black spots. Each hindwing has two tails. Adults feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Eriogonum and Asclepias species. The larvae feed on Cercocarpus, Salix species, buckbrush, antelope-brush, oaks, cherry, and saskatoon.