My spouse, Jerry, drove our party of four up scenic Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Monica to Santa Barbara, about a two hour journey.
The Natural History Museum is a delightful collection of Spanish Tiled buildings on a lovely stream-side setting, in the shadow of the Santa Barbara Mission.
I was inspired by Victoria Morrow's photos from the exhibit, "Butterflies Alive." She captured butterflies on beautiful flowers, in a fantastic garden setting. Quite different than my memories of the Los Angeles butterfly exhibit of many years ago; I recall chrysalis hanging on coat hangers in a tool shed atmosphere, fitting for LA; not much green.
Upon our approach to the pavilion, we were greeted by a nice young lady sitting at a display table with a Tupperware container of caterpillars and a small tree branch with chrysalis attached. We were all schooled in butterfly etiquette prior to entering: Don't touch the butterflies, watch where you step as they sometimes land on the ground, don't pick the flowers.
I had the new 80-D and W9's spare SX-60. I loved the vivid setting with the parrot icon on my old SX-50. Well, that's gone. Instead it has a HDR vivid art setting. The camera fires off 3 quick shots and combines them inside camera. The shutter speed is slow. The buffering is painfully even slower. Most shots had unacceptable blur. But the colors were crazy just how I like them.
Exiting the pavilion you are inspected for any hitchhiking stray flutterbys. You step into an anteroom with a mirror and a few butterfly nets on standby.
It was time for a quick break. We cobbled together what little we had brought in the way of consumables. A modern day "Stone Soup." We packed a couple of beers and bottled water but not much food.
Poor Dave ( Camp David Dave, our friend and neighbor) is tall and very active. He has the metabolism of a hummingbird. The rest of us stemmed our hunger with 1/4 of a chicken wrap and a bit of tuna salad eaten without utensils. Dave was ready to fashion some chopsticks from some twigs.
After the break W9 and I went back into the butterfly pavilion where I snapped at a little creepy kid who was about to molest a swallowtail. It wasn't wall-to wall children. There were also adult roadblocks. One clot of grownups spoke in Aussie accents about football statistics. They picked an unfortunate spot to drone on and on. You know how some people like to talk extra loud so that the nearby strangers don't miss a word? Well this group moved with me when I hit my limit and moved away.
Oh, and as W9 and I sat, another roadblock approached and took cellphone photos. I had already turned to shoot photos in a different direction when I hear a sharp intake of breath from W9. My initial thought was W9 is not afraid of bugs but she's wearing sandals so..... Roadblock had stepped on and squashed a Buckeye Butterfly. W9 witnessed a murder. So much for "Butterflies Alive" I guess.
Jerry and Dave appeared to round us up. A raptor event was underway outside. All the birds were rescues that could not be released for various reasons.
The Peregrine Falcon didn't have a "good side." She had one bum eye, a boo-boo on her beak, and a droopy wing. Not bad for a seven year old! All the birds were happy with their handlers who explained that they rotate which avian they care for so the birds don’t get particularly attached to one person. The handlers and birds were calm and encouraged us to move in closely. My shots looked fabulous in the viewfinder of the SX-60 however, later when viewed on the computer, not so much. Here is Lady Peregrine Falcon with a kite hanging from a tree in the background.
It was a 2 and 1/2 hour drive home, trudging through beach traffic, on a summer’s Sunday afternoon. Well worth the effort.
Tags: Butterflies Alive santa barbara natural history museum butterflies friendship canon Camaraderie SX-60 canon SX 60 art vivid crazy colors raptor raptor event museum monkey pekabo90401 southern california peregrine falcon falcon Falco peregrinus Duck Hawk Faucon pèlerin Halcón peregrino PEFA 2 hour scenic drive from Santa Monica eyes in the sky kisa Kisa the Peregrine
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"Pipevine Swallowtails are a big help to other butterfly species without even trying. Because adult butterflies are poisonous to predators from all the pipevine they eat as caterpillars, most birds avoid them. Other butterfly species have developed mimicry. Mimicry is when one animal copies the look of another, and gains protection. Some species that mimic Pipevine Swallowtails include Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (females), Eastern Black Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, and Red-spotted Purple. None of these species are poisonous, but birds avoid them because they have the same color and size as Pipevine Swallowtails."fcps.edu
Tags: Battus philenor Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies pekabo90401 80D canon 80D 100-400 canon Camaraderie friendship Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Natural History Museum Butterflies Alive butterfly exhibit pushing the sliders I don't know nuthin about butterflies and bugs in general people? I heard it through the pipeline flower monkey
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"Medium caterpillars will take two to three weeks to reach pupation size, and large caterpillars will typically take one to two weeks. The only difference between medium and large larvae is their age. Great Southern White Butterflies can only be released in Florida. In all other states they must stay in a butterfly enclosure during their entire life cycle.
Great Southern White Butterfly Chrysalis - Set of 6 $36.00
Adult Great Southern White Butterfly Wing Span:
2 1/2 - 3 3/8 inches"
butterfliesetc.com
Tags: Great Southern White Butterfly butterflies Butterflies Alive pekabo90401 Santa Barbara Natural History Museum museum monkey flower monkey friendship Camaraderie canon canon 80D 80D 100-400 Ascia monuste lightroom aqua antenna butterfly pavilion butterfly exhibit flickr map deal not working you can buy this butterfly! SCHMETTERLING mariposa papillon 나비 バタフライ 蝴蝶 vlinder féileacán farfalla nobody got my ant joke : (
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My husband, Jerry, drove our party of four up scenic Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Monica to Santa Barbara, about a two hour journey.
The Natural History Museum is a delightful collection of Spanish Tiled buildings on a lovely stream-side setting, in the shadow of the Santa Barbara Mission.
I was inspired by Victoria Morrow's photos from the exhibit, "Butterflies Alive." She captured butterflies on beautiful flowers, in a fantastic garden setting. Quite different than my memories of the Los Angeles butterfly exhibit of many years ago; I recall chrysalis hanging on coat hangers in a tool shed atmosphere, fitting for LA; not much green.
Upon our approach to the pavilion, we were greeted by a nice young lady sitting at a display table with a Tupperware container of caterpillars and a small tree branch with chrysalis attached. We were all schooled in butterfly etiquette prior to entering: Don't touch the butterflies, watch where you step as they sometimes land on the ground, don't pick the flowers.
more of the story under the colorful Peregrine Falcon photo. : )
www.flickr.com/photos/37834207@N06/28395092254/
Tags: butterflies Butterflies Alive butterfly exhibit flowers flower monkey pekabo90401 Santa Barbara Natural History Museum wesen need ID canon camaraderie friendship 80D canon 80 D 100-400 lightroom バタフライ papillon 蝴蝶 tximeleta motýl vlinder 나비 drugys бабочка queen butterfly Danaus gilippus
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"The Julia Longwing Butterfly is a member of the diverse brush-footed butterfly family. This means it is related to the Monarch, Viceroy, Malachite, the Fritillary subfamily, Painted Lady, and Common Buckeye butterflies. The front pair of legs of these butterflies is very short and almost so difficult to see, people only count 4 legs. In addition to their diminutive length, the front pair of legs is also covered in short bristles, or hairs, like a hairbrush.
The adult feeds on the nectar of flowers in meadows such as the multicolored orange and pink lantana flower and Shepard’s needle. They are also known to land on caiman’s (small alligator-like animals) and deliberately irritate their eyes with the proboscis so the caiman produces tears. The butterflies then drink the tears!"
insectidentification.org
Tags: Dryas iulia Julia Longwing Butterfly butterflies Butterflies Alive butterfly exhibit Santa Barbara Natural History Museum Santa Barbara pekabo90401 lightroom flower monkey Camaraderie canon canon 80 D 80D 100-400 friendship alligator tears papillon mariposa schmetterling Orange Longwing butterfly
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