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A garden enthusiast who loves to travel and capture the beauty of places and freeze the memories of her travels in photographs, as well as document her experiences in verse...thankful for the simple pleasures in life.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Chasing Butterflies

I spent three hours yesterday...chasing butterflies. More like stalking, actually. And I am giddy with delight at the result...150 photographs for my new collection! It was a glorious achievement for me. I had never managed to capture a single image of a butterfly in my garden, and now I have so many, I do not know where to start. I'm sure you realise by now that I was at a butterfly sanctuary, and not in the natural habitat of butterflies, and that was how I could get so many shots of these lovely flutterbys.


According to the brochure I received at the Malacca Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary, there are 30 species there. I think I managed to photograph 18 or so different species. I am in the process of identifying the ones I photographed, and this might take quite a while.So, I shall feature only two varieties in my first post on butterflies.

I'll feature my favourites first.


This was the first butterfly I saw as I parted the screen to enter the enclosure. This specimen was a wonderful introduction to the host of butterflies I was to see. Impressive, to say the least, as its wingspan was about 5 inches! And no wonder, as this was royalty...the Raja Brooke's Birdwing, the most recognised butterfly in Malaysia, practically the national butterfly. International trade of this butterfly is prohibited, as it is a protected species.


Raja Brooke's Birdwing
Trogonoptera brookiana




Inside, there were more of this variety...they were the most visible, not only because of their superior size, but also because they loved to stay at one place for quite a long time before they moved on to attach themselves to another place.

This fella  seemed to be filling up on gas for the next flight out!









I didn't realise that butterflies need to drink, no wonder there was a small waterfall from which the water made puddles among the pebbles, so that the butterflies could stop by for a drink. I would think the nectar provided enough liquid nourishment! Ignorant me. I am learning quite a bit about butterflies with the reading up I'm doing for this post. That's part of the excitement for me...learning new things.




This one, I actually caught landing on the yellow ixora!










The Common Birdwing
Troides helena

This is another large butterfly. I love this particular Common birdwing in the image below, damaged wing and all. This Troides helena had graciously deigned to let me shoot it feeding on the yellow ixora. How's that for colour coordinated dining?




The Common birdwing is among the largest butterflies you will find in Asia. The ones in the photographs are about 6 inches from one wing tip to the other.





This is another lovely specimen, wings not damaged by the early morning rain.
[Photo submission for Photo Challenge - Bokeh]










I can't help but be inspired by these butterflies, to write a haiku for Leo's Haiku Heights:

incandescent green
flash of electric blue wings
breathe beauty into life 




Linking to:
Haiku Heights
Fertilizer Friday
Macro Friday
Weekend Flowers
Macro Flowers Saturday
Photo Challenge: Bokeh
Fabulous Friday
Mosaic Monday
Macro Monday
Mellow Yellow Monday







29 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing this beauties with us at Weekendflowers :)

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  2. Wow! Gorgeous butterflies and great shots! I can imagine your giddiness. The effect is spilling over...

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  3. Oh Rosie, I am so envious, in a nice way of these fantastic butterfly shots. :)

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  4. Oh Rosie, these are gorgeous, unique close-ups.
    A collection of 150 butterfly photos, it's unbelievable!
    You hit the jackpot but you break the heart of someone like me, who is just chasing them but no result.

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  5. Awesome pictures!!! I love butterfly sanctuaries. :o) I tried to create a butterfly puddle with sand once and it was a disaster. I think the small pebbles are a much better idea.

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  6. This was so inspiring! I love that you saw so many different species and were able to capture so many wonderful shots.

    Your haiku = my heart.

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  7. These are really really cool - I have the hardest time photographing butterflies and you captured them beautifully.

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  8. Beautiful butterflies and great shots!

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  9. They are absolutely beautiful. Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos with us.

    My entry.

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  10. Lovely Haiku and the pics are a treasure!

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  11. I would have been in heaven!!
    Such a beautiful pair of butterflies. I have never seen anything like the birdwing - very unique.
    Thanks for your visit and the lovely comment you left me. It was most appreciated.

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  12. Rosie - I love butterflies - and get so excited to see them in my garden ... I've planted to attract butterflies and hummingbirds ... These particular ones are gorgeous in color and size ... you captured them well. Thank you for sharing ~~
    Also, thank you for visiting my blog ... and yes, we have 12 fur-children, plus 2 who visit regularly ... along with fur-nieces and nephews!!! :-)

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  13. I loved your first line in the post. I too feel like a stalker when trying to get their photos. You real have some pretty butterflies here. Many I have never seen at our local Conservancy in Canada.

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  14. These butterflies are so pretty...

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  15. Great captures! The Rajah Brooke is indeed a very pretty butterfly....

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  16. Beautiful butterflies! Welcome to the club of butterfly lovers. Happy holidays!

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  17. These are fabulous photos! Thanks for sharing your butterflies.

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  18. Wow! Fabulous captures!
    Thanks for sharing;o)

    ¤ Have a nice and happy week ¤

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  19. We have butterfly gardens--and they whiz off cuz there's more important things to do than to pose for the crazy lady with the camera.

    That all equates to--I'm plain JEALOUS!

    What fantastic photos! Oh my gosh. They're just gorgeous.

    Well done!

    I'll enjoy seeing the rest of the collection.
    HUGELY.

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  20. So many beautiful butterfly images!

    Thanks for sharing!

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  21. Beautiful snapshots and an equally beautiful haiku. You must have spent hours on the jungle trails to get those shots.

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  22. I have not seen this kind of butterflies in my garden. Very beautiful!

    Shades of Yellow

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  23. I have enjoyed my visit today...good post!
    I wish I had more time to visit all of my favorites everytime you all post!
    Thank you so much for linking in and sharing your post with my party today! Have a wonderful day!!!
    (¯`v´¯)
    `*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
    ¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
    (¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

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  24. wow! beautiful pictures, beautiful shots, thank you for sharing :-) visiting from MYM, hope you can visit my entry here too

    http://www.mommies2ks.com/2011/08/mellow-monday-1-the-little-entrepreneur.html

    Have a wonderful weekend,
    Jessica

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It is always a pleasure to read your comments. I shall certainly try my best to jet over to your blog and catch up with you there.