Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: window ledge

Hey, Phil, this is to give you just a taste of what you'll see tomorrow : )! Enjoy yourself! The butterfly display is now open inside the Calgary Zoo Enmax Conservatory. This beautiful, large Blue Morpho is just one of several species of butterfly flying "freely" indoors. It can be very difficult to catch it resting, LOL. On a window ledge was the best I could do this time: ) "Blue Morphos are Neotropical butterflies found mostly in South America as well as Mexico and Central America ... These colors are not a result of pigmentation but are an example of iridescence: the microscopic scales covering the Morpho's wings reflect incident light repeatedly at successive layers, leading to interference effects that depend on both wavelength and angle of incidence/observance. Thus the colors produced vary with viewing angle ... Morpho butterflies are forest dwellers but will venture into sunny clearings to warm themselves ... The Blue Morphos are reared en masse in commercial breeding programmes. The iridescent wings are used in the manufacture of jewellery and as inlay in woodworking ... Significant quantities of live specimens are exported as pupae from several neotropical countries for exhibition in butterfly houses ... The adults live for about two to three weeks." From Wikipedia. Went on a walk this morning in South Glenmore Park, by the Glenmore Reservoir. There were 500+ Swans on the Reservoir (a mix of Tundra and Trumpeter, plus the rare, solitary Mute Swan which has been hanging out there recently.)

Seen at the Calgary Zoo, but wish I had seen it in the wild. It is extremely unusual to see a wild one here and I had longed for the last few years to see one. So, I was thrilled yesterday to hear a little boy in the new Enmax Conservatory tell his Mom that he could see a Monarch. Of all the butterflies in the room, this was the only one that was not opening its wings at all - and, then, suddenly it did, for just a moment!! Jacket, fleece jacket and a sweater were not what I should have been wearing in the warm, tropical atmosphere of this room - but it was SO worth it : ). And now, after only two and a half hours sleep last night, and hours of sunshine and fresh air all day, I can't keep awake. My alarm went off at 5:40 a.m. this morning and I have been out almost all day today, doing a nature exploration of the wooded areas of the grounds of a Golf Course outside the city, recording everything seen (birds, plants, lichens, insects, etc.). It got up to 18C today, but thankfully our walk was very slow-paced. I know I, for one, need to gradually build up to tougher walks and hikes after the last seven sedentary months, LOL.