This Friday Flowers post has blooms in a supporting role with the stars of the show being the beautiful butterflies of Mexico. One of the favourite games on our original Macintosh Performa (circa 1995) was Amazon Trail. (The graphics were great at the time) In the journey through the rainforest, colourful butterflies and birds crossed the screen. Each day at about 10AM, butterflies began flying around the flowering trees and vines on the property in Tepic, Mexico. They reminded me of the old computer game and I tried to "collect" all of them with my lens.
There were several enormous butterflies which eluded me for days. They looked like giant pieces of lace fluttering through the air. I had given up trying to find one at rest when my brother called me over to his house in the afternoon just before I left. This tattered but beautiful butterfly was feeding on an over ripe banana.
This moth was on the bathroom mirror one morning. I carefully let it out the window and its wings were even prettier in flight.
The hummingbirds were about the size of the butterflies and they reigned over the flowers and feeder. The Violet-crowned Hummingbird on the left was very territorial and aggressive and attacked any other bird which approached its perch. We would watch three of four of them chase each other at great speeds around the property. They commandeered two feeders on opposite sides of the house. The Berylline (or Buff-bellied) Hummingbird on the right had to sneak over to the feeder for a sip or two at a time.Some time I hope to see the overwintering Monarchs in the neighbouring state of Michoacán but this collection of butterflies will do for now. Maybe I will even get around to identifying them some day.
Ruth, when I opened your page, the beauty took my breath away!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a huge selection of butterflies, and you captured them marvelously.
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous! I love butterflies, they are so bright, colorful and gentle. You must had a great time discovering so many of them. That would an excellent reason for me to travel to Mexico.
ReplyDeleteWOW!
Even better than seeing them in a conservatory, I'll bet.
ReplyDeleteI find our local hummers quite p!ssy and territorial too. They spend more time chasing than they do feeding.
Oh my goodness! These are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteRuht
Ruth, you have mastered butterfly photography! I mumbled, "wow..."
ReplyDeleteI also like your new look here. Makes me think about a blog makeover.
Mary
This post prompted me to look back at some of your other butterfly posts. You have lots of really nice pics. I am envious.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful! You were quite the butterfly collector. Just lovely.
ReplyDeleteThose are so beautiful Ruth. Thanks for sharing them with us!
ReplyDeleteThat lace looking butterfly on the banana is magnificent! Love the hummingbirds. I have seen the violet-crowned and broad-billed here in AZ but that other hummingbird does not look like a broad-billed. They have a deeply forked blue-black tail. Could it perhaps be a buff-bellied? I have never seen one myself but they have that red beak and that bronzy-green lower back like that. It could also be some Mexican species I have never heard of, but it just doesn't look like a broad-billed to me. I hope you don't mind me pointing this out. Please correct me if you think I am wrong. If it is a buff-bellied you have seen a very rare hummingbird! Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteKathie...thanks for your comments. I welcome corrections and I see now that the green hummingbird is not a Broad-billed. (It is easy to ID hummingbirds in Ontario as we only have one species)
ReplyDeleteThe Sibley guide has the Berylline and Buff-bellied Hummingbirds listed side by side and they are very similar. I was near the west coast of Mexico so according to the range map, it would make the Berylline Hummingbird the more likely bird.
Love the butterflies -so beautiful!
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