Monday, March 26, 2012

Macro Monday - {Tampa Photographer}

It's amazing how much there is to photograph just outside my front door.  We've got penta plants which bees and Monarch butterflies love to feed from the flowers and milkweed on which the butterflies lay their eggs.  The caterpillars eat the leaves until they are full grown and turn into butterflies.  It's great to see the whole cycle right outside the door!  While we've had a number of Monarchs cocoon around our house, we've never had two right next to each other.  Last week, about 2 hours before dawn you could see that the one to the left was very dark at least that's how it looked from the ground.  As history would indicate, it would likely emerge before or around sunrise.  I pulled out the ladder as my trusty step stool wasn't going to get my 5'2" self up high enough for this job.  In between the kids getting ready for school and me getting ready for the day I kept popping my head outside.  I was so excited about the possibility of seeing the Monarch actually emerging as this is an event that has escaped me, but knew it would only take a minute and I could miss in between my morning tasks.  I grabbed some shots of the cocoon up close and was stunned to see that it wasn't just dark, the cocoon was actually see through at this point and the dark is actually the butterfly! You could see the orange on its wings all curled up into this incredibly small space! That paired with the site of a newer, still green cocoon within inches was just so amazing!  I am a nature geek, I know.   I had hoped till this little guy waited till the sun came up before coming out so the light would be more beautiful and well, it complied!  After all the demands of my morning were met, I parked myself on the ladder and waited, and waited and then I noticed what seemed to be a slight break at the bottom of the cocoon.  Within seconds, the crack opened more and the butterfly pushed it's way out, head first, then slowly opening its wings!  It moved around till it found the right spot to wait while its wings dried and it was able to take flight.   There are a lot of shots, but I just couldn't narrow them down any further and still show the process.  I hope you enjoy!


















 This little guy was making his way up the same wall!



15 comments:

  1. wow! Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Great photos and kudos to you on your patience and persistence!

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  2. Wow! Such a neat thing to capture! Great set of images!! :)

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  3. Wow! What an incredible experience to even just see -- and I'm so happy you were able to capture it so beautifully as well!

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  4. Very cool to be able to capture this event. Thanks for posting!

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  5. OMG I cannot believe how cool this is ! what a great capture!

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  7. I just love the birth of a butterfly! Taught school for 13 years and we raised monarch caterpillars each year! Nothing like it! You got some GREAT captures!

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  8. That is AMAZING, I am going to have to show my son after school. Such cool shots!

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  9. Amazing post!!! I've never been witness to an emerging butterfly. How lucky that you saw this.
    I love macro photography, and you images are stunning!

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  10. Wow...what a great thing to witness and to photograph.. beautiful!

    Beverly

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  11. We had a bicycle that was out of commission last year with a monarch cocoon on it, what a miracle it is to watch them emerge as beautiful butterflies. I love your images of the process beautiful!

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  12. WOW that is just amazing and SO very beautiful!

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  13. That truly is spectacular!!

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  14. Yes, you are lucky and thank you for posting.
    These are some of the best that I have sen and you should try and have them published somewhere else too.

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