Giant Swallowtail Butterfly Close Ups

Here is another swallowtail I found on Thursday. The Giant Swallowtails are of the largest found in the United States with wing spans of up to 6 inches.



I found the outside of the wings were much more interesting than the inside spread.



What drew me to find him was the flutter-hover manuever he was doing as he drank from the flower. The wings flapped in a wave from top wings to bottom wings at a very fast flutter. It was really cool to watch.



Even though I find the outside wings more colorful, the inside spread has quite an interesting pattern.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Close Ups

I was really lucky yesterday, as I found a real hotspot for attracting the giant butterflies. I was able to approach very close and stay for as long as I liked. I have found that most butterflies do not really care for humans and avoid them with a flutter, but the ones I am posting today were drawn to the meal much more than being afraid of my predacious tendancies.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Click each photo for some up-close hairy details!)



Here are some left and right profile views



I really liked how this one filled the frame



He or she is quite hairy! I guess that is why I love macro. It's the details you never see!



Tomorrow: Giant Swallowtail Butterfly

Flutterby

When I get bored with not finding any exciting photo ops, I always turn to messing around with Photoshop.

Macro Monarch

Birding has been quite slow, so insects have been the focus lately. The milkweed blooms are still producing plenty of food for butterflies. This time of the year is great for Monarchs, which are starting to hatch from their cocoons.

Click for a close up inspection!

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly

I love shooting different things that I don't necessarily know about. Butterflies are one subject matter that I severely lack knowledge of. After shooting something I know nothing about, I google and research and find out all kinds of interesting things. So not only do I now know this new butterfly's name, I also know that it loves milkweed flowers, in which I didn't even know that they flowered at all. I also learned that pollination for these is very tricky, but I won't get into that. Google it if you are interested, it's quite fascinating. Anyway, I had a two-fer of learning for this day! I loved it!



Click the photo for a good look at its cute face!