Today we went out to look for butterflies as part of Outdoor Hour Challenge #22. We were optimistic. We persevered. We were rewarded.
I can't tell you how much it helps to focus on a particular aspect of nature as outlined in the Outdoor Hour Challenges. If you had asked me if there were butterflies in our backyard, I would have said a definite maybe. We see them from time to time fluttering in the garden but they move pretty fast and we don't get to spend a lot of time observing any one particular butterfly.....usually.
Today we sat out and watched and right away I saw a cabbage white skipping across the clover in the grass, not really sitting but flitting from blade to blade and then off he went. Next we saw what I think was a swallowtail of some sort. I am totally guessing and I say swallowtail because that is one type of butterfly we frequently have in our backyard. He was there and then he was gone way too fast. Then, after much sitting and focusing our eyes on the garden, we saw the best subject of the day. It was a fiery skipper. He sat on a bloom of the butterfly bush and we got to look at him closely. I went to get the camera. A few minutes later, he was back again and this time I was able to take the photo at the top of this entry. Fantastic!!!
The lesson of this blog entry. Pick your focus and be patient. I am ready and anxious to take some more time to go out with the boys and wait for butterflies.
We saw a zebra swallowtail on our nature walk today! I even was able to capture a quick picture of it! Check it out, I just posted an entry about our nature walk.
ReplyDeleteCandace
www.hismercyisnew.com
We also went outside to try and find some butterflies - but we were unsuccessful. But we will persevere!
ReplyDelete~Chrissy
Wow, that is absolutely amazing. It looks like he is looking right at you.
ReplyDeleteGreat shot, Barb!
ReplyDeleteI have alot of recent shots of butterflies, but we'll go out and get something fresh for this challenge.
We had a chance to visit the Butterfly House at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in DC. Really cool. Once you started looking around, you saw them all over. It helped to open my eyes to how many butterflies and moths were around us on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteWe've struggled with finding butterflies to post about recently, so we're just going to focus on insects and let them come to us!!
ReplyDelete~Chrissy
Well, I am about a gazillion challenges away from you but we are going to start insects this term and I was really feeling hopeless about being able to find any in our backyard. Your post has inspired me to simply go out and look! Thank you Barb!
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