Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: spread wings

Another of the beautiful butterflies that I have been lucky enough to see at the Enmax Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. What this species lacks in brilliant colour, it certainly makes up for in intricate design! Wing span is 2 3/4 - 3 3/8 inches (7 - 8.6 cm). "Adults rest on tree trunks head downward with their wings spread open. Males perch on trees and make a cracking sound when they dart out at passing insects (and people) .... Range: Argentina north through tropical America to Mexico. A rare stray to the lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas." www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1809 The last but one time that I visited the Calgary Zoo was on 6 October 2015. I used to go fairly often, but my usual parking lot and Zoo entrance then closed for the winter. Since then, road construction and bridge replacement have been going on, but have now been completed. The drive to the north entrance of the Zoo is definitely out of my driving comfort zone, so I had been waiting for this day for a long time. June 26th 2018 was THE day - for me and for half the people in the city!! It was packed! I had decided to go before schools close for the summer. However, I suspect some schools had end-of-term Zoo visits on this day. Also, when I checked the weather forecast, rain was in the forecast for the next six days, so I knew i needed to go straight away. My visit only covered about half the Zoo, as I usually spend a lot of time in the Conservatory, enjoying the plants and tropical butterflies. My daughter had taken a photo of a gigantic lily pad, Victoria Water Lily / Victoria amazonica, and I really wanted to see it. There were three or four of these in a tiny pool. I love the pattern on the underside of the upturned edge of each lily pad, I didn't see a huge variety of butterfly species that day, but there were enough to keep me happily clicking for a while. They vary from day to day, as new butterflies emerge from their chrysalises.. My intention had not been to visit the newly arrived Panda family, as I was sure there would be an extremely long line-up. However, I could see that there was no line-up at all and I was able to just walk in, which was great. How lucky we are to have these four amazing animals visit our Zoo. They were in an inside enclosure, full of plants - and Bamboo, of course. I'm not sure how many hours a day these animals sleep, but two of the three that could be seen slept for part of the time I was there. Had to smile at the very uncomfortable positions in which they slept. Part of the enclosure has glass, which made it almost impossible to get photos without the reflections of the crowds of people. The Bactrian Camel had recently given birth to a baby, named Gobi - such a cute little thing. No sign of the Red Pandas when I passed their enclosure. One of the birds I love to see - though these birds tend to hide! - is the amazing Himalayan Monal. The male, especially, takes my breath away each time I see it. A few hours well spent happily clicking. Hopefully, it won't be almost three years before my next visit, though the west entrance does close each winter. It felt so good to once again be back in a place full of colour and interest.

I was SO lucky with this beautiful Mourning Cloak butterfly about 10 days ago! It flew in a large circle in the forest at Bebo Grove and then flew to me and circled me. It did this three times, each time landing maybe five feet away with a different setting after circling around me. These butterflies tend to be found near trees.

There were only a handful of tropical butterflies at the Calgary Zoo on 9 April 2013, when this photo of one of the large Blue Morphos was taken. Even fewer when I was there again on 16 April 2013. It's early in the butterfly "season", but eventually their numbers will increase and the tropical plants will get much larger, and it will once again be a tropical paradise! The staff and volunteers put in so much work and effort to create this amazing place for us to enjoy. Actually, I've just realized that this butterfly is different from my previously posted Blue Morpho images, so it must be a different Morpho species. "A Morpho butterfly may be one of over 29 accepted species and 147 accepted subspecies of butterflies in the genus Morpho." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpho

Not the most photogenic background (i.e. the floor of the ENMAX Conservatory), but that's where this beautiful Blue Morpho butterfly was resting on 9 April 2013. On my last visit to the Calgary Zoo a week later, on 16 April, there were still very few butterflies to be seen, but over the next weeks and months till around September/October, numbers will increase and the tropical plants will grow much larger, and it will once again be a hot, humid, tropical paradise : ) Most of these Blue Morphos at the Calgary Zoo are seen at rest, with wings tightly closed. No matter how many times I see one, I still find the gorgeous blue iridescence of the wings breathtaking. "The Peleides Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides) is an iridescent tropical butterfly found in Mexico, Central America, northern South America,Paraguay and Trinidad. The Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho peleides) drinks the juices from rotting fruits for food. Its favourites are mango, kiwi, and lychee. Blue Morpho butterflies live in the rainforests of South America, and can be found in Mexico and Central America.The wingspan of the Blue Morpho butterfly ranges from 7.5 cm to 20 cm.The entire Blue Morpho Butterfly lifecycle, from egg to adult is only 115 days. The larvae of Blue Morpho Butterflies are cannibals. The caterpillar Blue Morpho Butterfly is red-brown with patches of bright green. The brilliant blue color in the butterfly's wings is caused by the diffraction of the light from millions of tiny scales on its wings. It uses this to frighten away predators, by flashing its wings rapidly. The Blue Morpho Butterflies stick together in groups to deter their predators, a form of Mobbing behavior." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpho

Yesterday, we were lucky enough to have one of these very large butterflies actually land with wings spread, against a pale green backdrop. Most of these Blue Morphos at the Calgary Zoo are seen at rest, with wings tightly closed. No matter how many times I see one, I still find the gorgeous blue iridescence of the wings breathtaking. "The Peleides Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides) is an iridescent tropical butterfly found in Mexico, Central America, northern South America,Paraguay and Trinidad. The Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho peleides) drinks the juices from rotting fruits for food. Its favourites are mango, kiwi, and lychee. Blue Morpho butterflies live in the rainforests of South America, and can be found in Mexico and Central America.The wingspan of the Blue Morpho butterfly ranges from 7.5 cm to 20 cm.The entire Blue Morpho Butterfly lifecycle, from egg to adult is only 115 days. The larvae of Blue Morpho Butterflies are cannibals. The caterpillar Blue Morpho Butterfly is red-brown with patches of bright green. The brilliant blue color in the butterfly's wings is caused by the diffraction of the light from millions of tiny scales on its wings. It uses this to frighten away predators, by flashing its wings rapidly. The Blue Morpho Butterflies stick together in groups to deter their predators, a form of Mobbing behavior." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpho

One needs a lot of patience to capture some of the amazing butterflies in the Calgary Zoo's Enmax Conservatory. They either land on a far from photogenic window ledge or land and immedicately close their wings. Sometimes, one is lucky enough for spread wings AND a vividly coloured plant : ) Haven't ID'd this one yet. We are back to winter again - more rain and snow and strong winds today and a miserable next few days' forecast, too. MUST work on my Taxes this evening!!! I seem to have said that before, LOL.

Another of the beautiful butterflies that I have been lucky enough to see at the Enmax Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. What this species lacks in brilliant colour, it certainly makes up for in intricate design! Wing span is 2 3/4 - 3 3/8 inches (7 - 8.6 cm). "Adults rest on tree trunks head downward with their wings spread open. Males perch on trees and make a cracking sound when they dart out at passing insects (and people) .... Range: Argentina north through tropical America to Mexico. A rare stray to the lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas." www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1809 It's SNOWING again today, only lightly at the moment. Winds are really strong again and temperature is 0C.

Oops, not in time to say that this is just a small butterfly perched on my finger, taken using macro setting on my camera. Sorry, it does look huge : ) Not completely sure of the ID, other than that it is an Anglewing, maybe a Gray or a Green Comma? If it is a Gray Comma, then the wingspan is only 40-50 mm. If it's a Green Comma, wingspan is 45-55 mm. This one landed on a friend's jeans and then climbed on to another friend's finger and then finally came on to my own finger. Seen a couple of days ago at the west end of Bragg Creek Provincial Park.

This is one of the two Northern Hawk Owls that a friend and I saw on Monday, N of Cochrane (i.e. NW of Calgary). I happened to catch it having a good stretch, very high up in a tall tree. I did remove a thin branch that cut across the tail, as I just found it extremely distracting and annoying. Yes, I admit it, I altered an image, LOL! Then, as if the thrill of Monday wasn't enough, I was invited by another friend to go back to the very same area this afternoon!! The sky was as blue as can be (just like on Monday) and we found THREE of these owls in the area. Unbelievable! The icing on the cake was yet to come, as we soon found out. A few moments later, on our way out of the area, there was a female Moose in a wooded field. To these two friends who enabled me to get out of the city (where I won't drive for the most part) and see these incredible sights - thank you SO much!