Category Archives: Butterfly

Younger Gulf Fritillary Butterfly Visits!

29 Monday Mar 2021

Posted by in Back Yard Garden, Backyard Garden, Butterflies, Butterfly, Canon, Garden, Gulf Fritillary, Home Garden

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Here’s another Gulf Fritillary Butterfly. I’m not sure why I am seeing these butterflies when I’ve not seen them during my years searching for these creatures. This butterfly’s wings are not tattered and worn compared to the first butterfly who flew in earlier in the week. This butterfly’s visit was very brief. I barely had time to photograph these 2 photographs.

When trying to capture a photo of a fast moving creature, there is not much time to fiddle with the camera. For the first picture, my focus was on the bottom center of the butterfly. For the second picture, I focused the lens around the head. So the other parts of the butterfly’s body are not totally focused. I know if I had adjusted other settings on my camera, the butterfly’s picture could have been sharper. But the butterfly would have been long gone by the time I competed the setting adjustments.

Since I’m a little crazy in my fondness of butterflies, it was important for me to photograph this new visitor. I don’t know if it will return or if this same species will return. I had to grab the opportunity to get a few pictures of this butterfly.

No one wants to miss a once in a lifetime opportunity. It can be hard to determine if a missed opportunity will be available again. We do not know what a day will bring. Photographing a memorable moment is important. Each photograph is unique. That captured moment may not happen again. So be quick to not miss any opportunity and grab it. The grab may not be perfect, but it is better than letting it slip away from your grasp.

Photos catch unique moments!

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly Surprise!

25 Thursday Mar 2021

Posted by in Back Yard Garden, Backyard Garden, Butterflies, Butterfly, Canon, Garden, Gulf Fritillary, Home Garden, Meyer Lemon

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

This is the first time in my life I saw a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly. I have been a  butterfly observer in the San Francisco area my whole life, since I was a kid. It caught me by surprise when I saw this butterfly, as I was hoping to photograph Hummingbirds or Bumblebees. It was in our yard for about one and half minutes. I only had about 30 seconds to photograph it, when it landed on the flower of our New Improved Meyers Lemon tree. It looked like it traveled many miles as the wings were tattered. This was a very cool surprise visit from a butterfly I never knew existed until I identified this species looking on the internet.

When I was a kid, I would watch the butterflies in our backyard or when I went out with friends to play. I enjoyed seeing the different types of butterflies in the Bay Area. I tried to catch butterflies and keep them in. I used to raise Anise Swallowtail caterpillars, until they went through the transformation to a pupa to a butterfly. I did this because the caterpillars were disappearing and possibly eaten by predators. I then released them in the backyard. I love the colors and patterns on butterflies. My wife even surprised me at our wedding banquet wearing a Chinese dress with butterflies. It was my dream as a young adult to create a garden to attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.

Whenever it is sunny and clear, I go to the backyard when the sunlight is at its peak to shoot photographs. Today I was getting discouraged about not seeing any hummingbirds. My wife snuck into the yard to clip a few branches of rosemary for dinner. She knows to keep quiet so not to scare any creatures. Just as my wife came to the yard, I spotted this special butterfly. I’m so glad I was quick to capture this butterfly’s pictures.

This butterfly is a good reminder that life is filled with surprises. I’ve always expected to see butterflies which are normally seen in San Francisco. It was exciting to see a different species of butterfly.

This pandemic has taught also a lot about surprises. We never expected to be home for over a year due to this pandemic. Never did we dream how this pandemic would effect businesses and our economy. Those who caught COVID-19 often have no idea how they got sick especially when they tried to be careful.

Surprises can be good and bad. I’m glad today I was blessed with a good surprise to see this special butterfly. It may have weathered difficult flights to get to San Francisco, but I’m glad it found my backyard. Perhaps if I did not attempt to grow my garden environment to shoot photographs, this butterfly would never have found the Meyers lemon blossom to take a sip of nectar.

Striving for goals do give surprise blessings. 

Photos capture surprise moments!

 

 

 

Red Admiral Butterflies, New and fresh compared to tattered by life

13 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by in Back Yard Garden, Backyard Garden, Butterflies, Butterfly, Canon, Garden, Home Garden, Red Admiral

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

We miss being with our friends and family during pre-pandemic times. I’m hoping we will have happy reunions later this year. In our Zoom meetings, we discuss possible plans for our reunion. We need to have a party in our house to make us tidy up our pandemic clutter. It will be nice when our people can return to visit us indoors.

It is also nice how this Red Admiral butterfly has been a good visitor over the past few months. See I shot a photograph in December 2020. I was glad to see this butterfly again in March. Unfortunately, this is a tattered butterfly now. See how the wing is damaged. The wing patterns match. So this must be the same butterfly?

Everyone and thing deteriorates over time. Things become broken. Home repair is a constant in life. During this pandemic time, people were seeking to repair and improve their homes to enjoy pandemic life. We love HGTV to watch how old broken homes are remodeled and fixed. It is interesting the determination whether the broken parts need to be discarded or can be restored or remade. Most of us enjoy seeing how the old can be made new again.

Facing brokenness is difficult to determine if a repair is appropriate. Can the brokenness be fixed? Or do we have to live with brokenness. We experienced a bad toilet problem with various problems. The plumber tried all sorts of things to repair. Finally, it was determined that it just had to be replaced. Too bad I do not know how to repair and patch this butterfly’s wing.

Often we do not want to face brokenness. Some do not want to change the old in their house as long as it functions in some way and will live with brokenness. In our life, do we recognize our brokenness? The first step to fix brokenness is to recognize what is broken. After recognition, we need to accept and move to possible solutions to fix emotional brokenness.

Hope during this pandemic time, we can not only repair our physical homes but also our personal emotional brokenness. I know I am praying and working on my personal brokenness. My garden and flying friends have helped me spend time praying in the outdoors. It is a slow process, but learning does not happen overnight.

Hope we can all accept the challenge to fix our brokenness.

Photos remind us about brokenness!

See my Face

04 Friday Dec 2020

Posted by in Backyard Garden, Butterflies, Butterfly, Garden, Home Garden, Red Admiral

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Butterflies are a little easier than hummingbirds to photograph. Hummingbirds are always on the move. Butterflies will take a short nap in my garden. They pause on the flower and do not rush around like the hummingbirds when they visit my backyard.

Since butterflies are not very big, I cannot see all their detail. Looking back at these pictures, I can take my time to examine the butterfly’s face by looking back at the photo. Do you notice the butterfly’s long tongue sucking on the flower nectar? Notice the butterfly’s fuzz. I love the long antennae. See the butterfly’s eyes.

The bright yellow orange and deeper orange colors of the 2 butterflies are pretty cool. I love their natural stripe designs on the wings.

How did I catch the butterfly’s face in the second photo? In photography terms, I shot with “select focus” meaning I focused to get a clear shot of the face. By doing this, the body behind the face was not as focused. So I selected what I wanted to focus on with my camera to get the clearer shot.

In our old life, we would see lots of people as we walked the street. We saw people at work. We see people on public transportation. But do we look into the faces of people to empathize or notice who they are? Do we see the faces of the people we live with to understand their problems and emotions? When we visit with family we do not live with or friends, do we examine their faces to see the hidden messages they do not want to talk about.

Let’s “select focus” to notice other people’s faces to understand who they are and empathize.

Photos Teach!

 

Being upside down is not bad as a Red Admiral Butterfly

28 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by in Agastache Blue Boa, Back Yard Garden, Backyard Garden, Butterfly, Garden, Home Garden, Red Admiral

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

The weather has been cool and sunny in my backyard. When there is sunshine, there is a 2 hour window when the lighting is perfect to shoot photographs. So the sunshine motivates me to get myself outside to visit my flying friends.

This Red Admiral Butterfly is one of my favorite butterflies. It flew into my yard and hung around for about an hour. It even seemed to take a short nap around my flowers.

It was nice to pose for me upside down with it wings wide open. The antennae are perfectly up and straight. The butterfly is strong yet delicate. The bright yellow orange pattern almost looks like the outline of a turkey’s wings looking at the center dark brown tan colors. I am thinking a lot about turkey, as I am eating my delicious leftovers.

Our world seems like it is upside down with this pandemic, racial injustice, and economic hardships. This butterfly does not mind being upside down, since it can flip and be right side up again. It flies quickly and with ease.

We can be reassured there is a way to be right side up again. I was listening to the news where a scientific expert was exclaiming how amazing how a vaccine is available soon in such a short amount of time. In the past, vaccines can take years to be developed. This expert marveled at the relatively quick development of these vaccines.

This butterfly reminds me it may not be as big a hurdle for any of us to get right side up again.

Can we float and fly right side up like a butterfly to new heights?

Photos Remind!

The Elusive Red Admiral

09 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by in Back Yard Garden, Backyard Garden, Butterfly, Garden, Red Admiral

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

The Red Admiral butterfly is one of my favorite butterflies. Since I was a child, I have loved butterflies. I love the interesting patterns in their wings. The wings’ unique patterns fascinate me.

During this pandemic year, I am having a good time trying to create a garden to attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. Working in my garden relaxes me and allows me to escape from the worries of the world. I can focus on the beauty of nature and watch my flowers grow.

I love the experience of watching out to see what creatures will find their way to my garden. This butterfly posed perfectly for me.

We could learn a lesson from the butterflies. They each look unique in the colors and the patterns in their wings. Do they exhibit preferences for each other depending on the pattern of their wings? Obviously not! Their goals are to exist by taking care of their essential needs to live.

Can man learn from the butterflies that color does not matter? It does not matter the color or the “pattern” of our skin.

Our goals should be to learn to take care of our essential needs to live and care for one another.

Butterfly Photos Teach Us About Life!

Butterflies are free but Grocery Workers are not!

29 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in Butterflies, Butterfly, COVID-19, COVID19, Grocery Clerks, Red Admiral

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Red Admiral Butterflies are hard to shoot. They are fast and quick!

I rotated this picture, since I actually shot this Red Admiral 90 degrees with the vertical fence orientation. I am slowly growing my garden oasis to attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Since we are sheltering in place, we take my 99 year old mother-in-law to our yard so she can walk around in safety. She spotted this butterfly. So I used my Pixel 3XL to shoot this photo. I love my camera on the Pixel 3XL. But there are limitations on what it can do. I do love Red Admiral Butterflies. So I’m glad I managed to get a few shots before the butterfly left our garden. I hope to be more prepared to shoot with my Canon camera to get better photographs of the Red Admirals.

My wife remembered the expression – “Butterflies are free”. But she did not remember where she heard it from. I Googled it and found out it is an old movie and play from around 1972. Goldie Hawn was in this old movie.

Butterflies are free info

It is nice to remember when we had the freedom to go anywhere anytime. Now we need to be safe and remain at home as much as we can. So when I watched this butterfly frolic around our plants, I was a little envious of its freedom.

We are spending more time on video chat meetings with family and friends. We met recently with my parents and brother. They wanted to wish me a “Happy Birthday”. Bad events seem to happen around my birthday – like this pandemic.

But we are gathering a little more with family as a result of the pandemic. It is bringing us together more. My brother is an employee at our Bay Area supermarket chain. He is a cashier at the supermarket. In the past, we would consider this job as no-risk. It normally is pretty stress free.

Now, a cashier, at a supermarket, is encountering many people. Who knows which of these individuals could be infected with COVD-19 and not be aware they are spreading the virus. Who would think this job could become stressful and risky.

Most supermarkets have installed plexiglass barriers in front of the cashiers. But my brother is upset since the plexiglass is not providing enough protection. Many customers will not remain behind the plexiglass. They often will go to the side of the plexiglass to communicate to the cashiers. My brother is wearing a mask and gloves. But he is concerned about the possibility of catching the virus and bringing it home to my parents.

Unfortunately, we all are not free like the butterflies. I am fortunate to be able to work at home. My wife is able to work her job at home.

But my brother is forced to go to work and be at risk at the supermarket. He doesn’t even have a little booth to be imprisoned in for protection from the customers.

When we go to the supermarket, can we all please be considerate of the cashiers? Can we only talk to the cashiers from behind the plexiglass? Can we thank them for their service? Can we try to keep our distance?

One day, we will hopefully be as free as the butterflies. But until that day, can we be considerate to keep our distance from the supermarket cashiers?

Photos Teach!