Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014April19

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. There were very few butterflies in April, but over the following months till around September/October, numbers increased and the tropical plants grew much larger, and it once again became 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, the Search function on Flickr was not working properly and this image did not come up when I searched. Hope they fix it very soon, if not fixed by now! As a result, I just discovered after I had uploaded my three photos this morning, that I had already posted this photo ages ago! I think I've only ever accidentally repeated an image once or maybe twice out of all 9, 845 photos, which isn't bad : )

This Gothic Arch Barn (?) was seen on 14 April 2014, when my youngest daughter and I spent the day driving some of the backroads SE of Calgary. Some of the roads were familiar to me, and others were new territory. This photo was zoomed in, which meant that the Rocky Mountains in the background look much closer than they really are Unfortunately, in order to get the barn at this angle, I couldn't avoid the road. After crossing the road, I did take a handful of shots that included an old windmill "tower" (not sure what the proper name is) nearby, which I will post sometime. I love the way the pretty much flat, endless landscape of the prairies is dotted here and there with an old barn or an abandoned farmhouse. Makes one want to photograph them all before they eventually rot and tumble to the ground. I had come across a photo of this little red barn on the Internet and knew that I wanted to find it. Superman's farm from the 1978 movie, "Superman: The Movie" had also been on my list. This is one of my favourite ways to spend a day! The sun is shining this morning, which feels so good after the snow in the last few days!

This Pigeon looked quite beautiful, sitting with its feathers puffed up, on a large, metal garbage container. Noticed it when I went with a friend to Bow Lake, Banff National Park, on 29 August 2013. "A baby pigeon is called a 'squab' or a 'squeaker'. The female is a 'hen' and the male is a 'cock'. A group of pigeons are called a 'kit' or a 'flock'." It's Good Friday today, the beginning of the Easter weekend. Beautiful, sunny weather would have been nice, especially for working people who get the day off. Instead, it's gloomy and unpleasant, looking like it's going to either rain or snow. Just checked the forecast and it's 1°C (windchill -2°C) this morning, supposedly getting up to 4°C this afternoon, with an 80% chance of rain and snow. Happy Easter weekend to everyone who celebrates! Later: sure enough, it snowed all day today.