So Now What?

Well, after three weeks of National Wildlife Refuges, let's catch up. Another trip to the Tucson Botanical Garden yielded some nice butterfly photos, although nothing I hadn't seen and photographed before. But, still worth sharing:

Blue and White Heliconian

Emperor Swallowtail

Postman

Tiger Longwing

Tree Nymph

Fine Art Wildlife Photography -- Butterflies

Butterflies make wonderful photographs. There is a difference though, between a wonderful butterfly photo that shows all its colors making it easy to identify and one that I would consider "fine art."  .I have decent photographs of 155 different butterfly species. Many like the first one are very nice and show great detail:

Blue Morpho

But beyond the detail and color of the butterfly, flowers can add additional color but in a contrasting way. Backgrounds can be soft focus providing additional contrast and making the butterfly stand out more. And, of course, the composition can provide a uniqueness that says, this isn't just a photo for identification purposes. Here are a few of my favorites:

Leopard Lacewing

Apricot Sulphur

Banded Orange

Cloudless and Dogface Sulphurs

Butterflies of Patagonia

It is Butterfly season in Southern Arizona --- thanks to the monsoon rains. The little town of Patagonia has a butterfly garden in its central park. Although only about 800 square feet, the garden brings lots of butterflies. Here are a few of my butterfly photos from yesterday:

Bairds Old World Swallowtail

Cabbage White

Gulf Fritillary

Queen Butterfly

Fort Huachuca: Garden Canyon - Part II

In addition to the Montezuma Quail, there were hundreds of butterflies. You could put your finger in front of one and let him walk onto your finger. In the first photo you'll see Christine with a butterfly on her shoulder. There probably were other species, but I did get photos of seven different kinds of butterflies.

Christine with her "Sister"  ---- California Sister

California Sister Close-up

Two Tailed Butterfly

Pipevine Swallowtail

Orange Sulphur

Western Tiger Swallowtail

Painted Lady

Black Swallowtail

Rains bring Butterflies

One of the benefits of the monsoon rains are the butterflies. Butterfly season is primarily August to October. Although, we get butterflies year round, it peaks during this time. Here are soon of the frequent visitors to The Azure Gate:

Giant Swallowtail

Elada Checkerspot

Empress Elilia

Frigga's Fritillary

Tropical Buckeye

Two Tailed Swallowtail

Queen Butterfly

Pipevine Swallowtail

Mexican Yellow Sulphur

Patagonia Butterfly Garden

Okay, we are not talking about the Tucson Botanical Garden's Butterfly Magic. The little town of Patagonia has a small "patch" of flowering plants that attract butterflies. We're talking about the size of a postage stamp (or small bedroom). However, it does produce butterflies, such as these that we found two days ago:

West Coast Lady

Checkered White

Female (top) and Male (below) Gulf Fritillary

Thistles and Thistles

Yesterday, Christine and I hiked Sawmill Canyon, which is in the Huachuca Mountains. Access is through Garden Canyon on the US Military Base (Fort Huachuca). It would have been exciting to find a bear or a coatimundi, but we had to settle for thistles. "Settling" for thistles isn't quite as bad as it sounds. When in bloom, thistles are actually quite beautiful like these with a Cloudless Sulphur:

But, also we found a female Black Chin Hummingbird that liked the thistles too:

As well as this Pipevine Swallowtail:

This Giant Swallowtail:

This Anise Swallowtail:

And, finally these Cloudless and Southern Dogface Sulphurs:

So even though we didn't find any bears or coatimundi, we had a great hike and some very nice photos.

Butterflies of Garden Canyon

Thistles, both New Mexico and Arizona varieties abound in Garden Canyon. They are a favorite of butterflies. And, because they have such bright wonderful color, make great photographs. Here are some of the butterflies I have photographed in Garden Canyon: First, sulphurs, maybe Southern Dogface (the darker one) and Cloudless or Clouded, can't really tell. Second, a Giant Swallowtail. Third, Viceroy. And, fourth Dull Firetip. Between butterflies and wildflowers, there always seems to be something to photograph if I am not finding large mammals or rare birds.

Southern Arizona Butterflies

Clearly, the Tucson Botanical Garden provides wonderful butterfly photo opportunities. However, Southern Arizona has it's share of beautiful butterflies as well. Obviously, harder to find and photograph, but nonetheless gorgeous and exciting when you do. Here are a few of Southern Arizona's best: The first photo is a Black Swallowtail taken in the Chiracahua Mountains. The second is a Queen Butterfly taken in the Galiuro Mountains. The third is a Gulf Fritillary taken in the Tucson Mountains. The fourth is a Giant Swallowtail taken outside the Tucson Botanical Garden. And the fifth is of a Pipevine Swallowtail taken in the Huachuca Mountains. Most of the butterfly photos are taken in August and September during or just after our monsoon season. There are also opportunities in the Spring if we get some rain and have a good wildflower season. As you can imagine the more pollen, nectar available the better the opportunity for finding butterflies. 

Still More Butterfly Magic

Staying at the Tucson Botanical Garden for one more day, I thought I would share three more Butterfly Photos. The top is a Julia Longwing, a pollen eater which gives it a little longer life, i.e. several months. Its range is Brazil to Southern Texas and Florida. The middle photo is a Common Rose from India and nearby countries. It is common to gardens in India, yet also found at 8,000 feet in the mountains. The red body, slow peculiar flight, bright colouration and pattern of the wings are meant to indicate to predators that this butterfly is inedible, being well protected by the poisons it has sequestered from its larval food plant. It also emits a nasty smelling substance when handled to further enhance its unappealing qualities. Hence it is rarely attacked by predators, a strategy so successful, that edible butterflies have evolved to mimic it, like the female of the Common Mormon.  The bottom photo is a Zebra Longwing found primarily in Central America, but as far North as Florida and Georgia and as far South as Venezuela. It is another pollen and nectar eater so it too has a longer life.