Apr 11, 2009

In the Butterfly House

Today was a boringly grey day in Oxfordshire, so we went to the Butterfly House in the afternoon to cheer ourselves up. Thanks to a special offer we have a spanking new annual ticket for it (and the rest of Blenheim Park), even though we somehow feel we are encroaching on the rights of people with kids and/or time. Seeing that English butterflies are having a very bad year our annual ticket might be the best way to see some butterflies, though.

We had a great time looking at the hatchery first (click on photos to enlarge):

I find the pupae of Northern European butterflies don't look all that exciting and I've understood here for the first time where the term chrysalis comes from (and no, with all my crawling through the rainforest I didn't come across a single chrysalis there - just ants, mosquitos, biting spiders and stick insects).

Inside the house itself are some pretty good butterflies - the dull light today, though, didn't really help me to do them justice with the camera.

Here is a Common Blue Morpho:




And a female Great Mormon - yes, it IS alive, in case you wonder. It's just sitting on a white background:



I love the texture and luminosity of their wings:




And lastly here's a chap whose species I have yet to find out:


There are more critters on display at Camera Critters, hosted by Misty Dawn.

16 comments:

Tink *~*~* said...

Wow you got some really awesome macros!

Happy Critturday!

Tink *~*~*
Critters on the Castle: Kaa

i beati said...

the bluest blues really Sandy

Russ said...

Very nice. I really like the blue morpho sitting on the sign describing various other butterflys. Perfect.

Unknown said...

Beautiful butterflies!!

You can see the markings on their wings, etc while they are still in their coccoons .. amazing..

Shosh said...

That is beautiful! Great shot.

Michele said...

What a great post of butterflies, very informative and such amazing photographs!!

Bryan said...

Fantastic butterfly shots. The Great Mormon must've been lying quite flat.

ninja said...

It's funny how butterflies are considered so beautiful but when you take a really close look it's just a bug.

ViennaDaily said...

I've yet to visit our butterfly house here...and with the kids! Beautiful shots!

VALKYRIEN said...

Butterflies are fascinating insects! And your macros are simply wonderful!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Bim: Thanks for sharing your trip through the butterfly house.

Manz said...

Great macro photos - "love the texture and luminosity of their wings" - me too... and you captured that so beautifully in these images.

DeniseinVA said...

Wonderful photos, and loved the macro's. You can really appreciate how very beautiful they are.

Pamela said...

Wonderful photos!!! They are incredible. Thanks for showing us.

Jane Hards Photography said...

This is a bumper packed post full of great info ans images, especially the last one.

Tulip said...

pretty butterflies. happy easter!