Thursday, August 23, 2007

Tiger Swallowtail on White Phlox


I was able to capture this photo a couple of weeks ago when this butterfly landed on the white phlox in my front flower garden.




More often than not, the butterflies in my garden "flutter by" so quickly it is difficult to get any decent photos. But this one was obviously enjoying the phlox and stayed for nearly a full minute, while I quickly snapped several photos.




Here you can better see the colors and markings of the beautiful Tiger Swallowtail..... no "raggedy wings" here, like the one I photographed earlier in the summer.

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"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."
~Maya Angelou





18 comments:

Entangled said...

Beautiful! It's so nice to find a fresh one, and the phlox is the perfect complement.

Anonymous said...

Hi Connie -- Beautiful photos and a lovely quote!

Melissa said...

I love the second photo - the feeling of take-off is there...ethereal...

Gina said...

connie - your phlox are beautiful! you and carolyn make me want to run out and buy some white ones. which one is that?

kris said...

Aren't those beautiful? Great photos - I always have trouble capturing them too. Your white phlox is so pretty. I'm curious which one it is also.

I just found out that I have the Eastern Black Swallowtail larvae all over my parsley plants! I hope some of them spin their cocoons in a place where I can watch them emerge. (If not, Zoey at Perennial Passion is documenting some that she put in a jar!)

Kylee Baumle said...

Wow, Connie! What great photos you took!

Petunia's Gardener said...

What a beauty! This photos are wonderful to see on the gray day we have here. But the rain is keeping everything watered at least.

LostRoses said...

This one escaped the clutches of birds' beaks. What gorgeous shots, he looks like he's sitting on a cloud!

David said...

Love the quote by Maya Angelou. Great photos too!

Andrea's Garden said...

Just beautiful! It seemed that there weren't as many butterflies as usual this year in my neck of the woods. Great pictures! Andrea

Catherine said...

Nice shots of the beautiful phlox and swallowtail, I have the same problem they usually flutter around so quickly all I get is a blurr, but yesterday a swallowtail seem to be still for several min.s so I could get several pic's of him!

Connie said...

Gina & Kris - Unfortunately, I don't remember the variety, but I love the pure whiteness of it! The owner of my local nursery said the only white phlox that isn't prone to mildew is called 'David.' I don't recall mine ever having mildew, so maybe that is what it is?

Anonymous said...

Wow what a beautiful garden you have, I too am trying to create a cottage garden theme over here in burgundy france. with all the chaos going on around me with our renovation I want to create some peace and something pretty rather than staring at bricks and power tools everyday. your photos are an inspiration and have spurred me on to do something about my own plot.

jules

MrBrownThumb said...

Great capture. I have yet to be able to capture this one or a good photo of the dark phase swallowtail.

Beth said...

loved the photo! What kind of camera do you have that you capture that so well? You must have a real high pixeled camera.

I just planted phlox so I'm hoping for some beautiful blooms like yours ...

Dirty Fingernails said...

what a magnificent photograph. The contrast of the white phlox and black and yellow swallowtail is perfect..

Jane M. said...

wow. I stopped by after reading your comment on my blog, wondering where you could live that you hadn't seen a monarch. Beautiful pictures!

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Great shot of the swallowtail on the phlox. Both, the pure white phlox and the swallowtail, are beautiful.