a butterfly day

denisegoldberg

A few years ago I started a habit of visiting the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory (http://www.magicwings.com/) early in January. I headed to the west early yesterday morning, following route 2 in Massachusetts until a reasonable turnoff to find South Deerfield. Arriving soon after the daily opening time, I quickly removed my warm layers, pulled out my camera, and entered the tropical world of the butterflies. I walked through the space multiple times, stopping, standing and looking, absorbing the beauty. At one point a blue morpho butterfly decided it liked the bright blue shirt I was wearing, landing on my shoulder and staying for a while. I felt it land, and I could see it from the corner of my eye. I stood still until the butterfly decided to move on.

Here are a few photos from my visit.

1 :: a Cairns birdwing

2 :: a glasswing butterfly, greta oto

3 :: a pair of blue morpho butterflies

4 :: in case you're wondering about the name, a blue morpo with its wings open

5 :: a dead leaf butterfly, Kallima inachus

6 :: parrot inhabitant at the conservatory - he's definitely in charge of his space!

If you're interested in more photos from yesterday's wonderful wander among the butterflies, click to the gallery denisegoldberg.com/GardensFlowersThings/Butterflies-2017/

Stumblebum

1 is special! Good work Denise!

denisegoldberg

@Stumblebum said:
1 is special! Good work Denise!

Thank you!

torags

Nice work Denise

The conservatories are the places to get the shots; rather than the wild

denisegoldberg

@torags said:
Nice work Denise

The conservatories are the places to get the shots; rather than the wild

Thank you! You're right, it is definitely easier since there seem to be more resting butterflies. It was pretty much impossible to capture them as they were flitting around. I did have some luck in local gardens during the summer though. Each of the gardens where I managed to get photos during the summer and fall had plenty of flowers to attract the butterflies.

In addition to the sheer number of butterflies, there were staff members wandering through on a regular basis so I could ask for names for the beautiful creatures.

JAG

Nice work Denise! I also have loads of butterfly images from conservatories and in the wild. The are such beautiful creatures!

denisegoldberg

@JAG said:
Nice work Denise! I also have loads of butterfly images from conservatories and in the wild. The are such beautiful creatures!

Thank you Joyce!

travelways

Very nice butterflies!

denisegoldberg

@travelways said:
Very nice butterflies!

Thank you Tatiana!