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Archive for the ‘Butterflies’ Category

Butterfly in December

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on December 4, 2018| 3 Comments »

A butterfly in December? I was shocked and thrilled to see this tattered Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae) flying around yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I photographed this little butterfly with my telephoto zoom lens fully extended to 600mm. I contemplated cropping the image, but decided that I really like the look and feel of all of the fallen leaves and left it uncropped. I also like the way that the veining in the leaves seems to mirror the veining in the butterfly’s white wings.

Cabbage White

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Buckeye butterfly in autumn

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 26, 2018| 7 Comments »

The brightly colored summer butterflies have mostly disappeared, but Common Buckeye butterflies (Junonia coenia) still accompany me in great numbers as I walk the trails of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The subdued, earthy shades of this beautiful butterfly seem a perfect match for the autumn season.

Common Buckeye

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Monarch and asters

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 21, 2018| 4 Comments »

Despite the cooler autumn temperatures, there are still quite a few butterflies fluttering about, like this Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)that I spotted last weekend at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I think that the little flowers are some kind of aster—they seem to be going strong at a time when most other flowers are wilting and turning brown.

Monarch butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Question Mark in Autumn

Posted in Art, Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 30, 2018| 5 Comments »

Orange and brown seem to be the perfect color combination for the autumn and this Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) was suitably celebrating the season this past Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Question Mark butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Monarch butterfly and thistle

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 28, 2018| 9 Comments »

I suspect that all of the Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) will soon be leaving our area for warmer places, so I am really trying to enjoy each and every encounter with one. I spotted this beauty feeding on some kind of thistle plant thispast weekend at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

monarch butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Equally beautiful butterflies?

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 20, 2018| 8 Comments »

Today I decided to feature two butterflies that I have seen over the past week. I saw them at different times and at different places, so normally I would not put them together in a posting.

I was struck, however, by the contrast between the two of them. One of them, a Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus), is brightly colored and hard to miss. The other, a Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) is so pale and nondescript that many people don’t notice it at all or dismiss it as being “only” a moth.

Beauty speaks to people in individual deeply personal ways. I find these two butterflies to be equally beautiful.

What do you think? Instinctively do you find one of these two to be more beautiful than the other?

Of course, there is no “right” answer. It seems to me that beauty is almost always subjective rather than universal. Our assessments of beauty tend to be influenced by a whole host of internal factors including our mood, personality, and background as much as by the external characteristics of the subject being considered.

Viceroy butterfly

Cabbage White butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

 

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Mating Monarchs

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 11, 2018| 6 Comments »

Nestled gently in the leaves of a tall tree, these two Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) were mating, doing their part to perpetuate a species often considered at risk. I captured this image in late August at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and re-discovered it yesterday when I was going through my photos from the week before my recent trip to Brussels.

I love the way that the upper butterfly is discreetly hidden by the leaves, but is revealed in its shadow. I find the colors in this image to be especially beautiful. with a wonderful contrast between the warmth of the orange and the coolness of the blue. Most of all, though, I love the way that the background turned out, with its soft circles of out-of-focus highlights.

This is the kind of image that I strive to capture, one that gently draws in viewers and speaks to them softly, reminding them of the undiscovered beauty that surrounds them all of the time.

mating monarchs

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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