BUTTERFLY!
Now I have featured a butterfly in a previous round of ABC Wednesday but this happens to be the biggest and most beautiful butterfly that I ever did see. Whilst on holiday in France recently I noticed a little girl crouched on her haunches, taking photos of a flower bed or so it seemed. A budding botanist I thought. Getting nearer to her my eyes alighted on the subject of her photo - not a plant but a most glorious winged creature which was settled on a scented pelargonium. I did not recognise the butterfly but it turns out that it is a swallowtail. I found out that we have swallowtails in the U.K. but they are confined to the fens in Norfolk. Their continental cousins are larger. Sadly this little body has suffered wing damage at some point but is still beguilingly beautiful.
I had to make furious silent signs to attract himself's attention and by time he arrived the butterfly had alighted onto another scented plant - a heliotrope or cherry pie plant. We watched it linger there for some time before it floated off on the balmy breeze.
If you go over to ABC Wednesday you will be able to see a bevy of posts on the letter B.
There is something so etherial about butterflies.
ReplyDeleteThese are simply gorgeous.
Beautiful aren't they?
ReplyDeleteUp near the barn end gable I grow verbena bonariensis, cosmos, buddleja and echinacea, swallowtails love it.
Lovely photo of a swallowtail! They are relatively common here, but yours is a different background color - more white than the bright yellows I am accustomed to. Of course they both have the brilliant "tail" colors.
ReplyDeletePerfect choice for B -- they are gorgeous :)
ReplyDeleteHave a good rest of the week!
Hood Photo Blog
Marvelous photos! Such beautiful a butterfly! I love them! And such a great word for the B day! Enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
They are gorgeous. I was lucky enough to spot some on a holiday in Tunisia some years ago. Lovely post. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Anna - found you through Blotanical. Fab butterfly pics -do we get this one in England. Ps what oh what is a lottie? and namaste to you.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous thing he is, even with his damaged 'tail'.
ReplyDeleteConfined to the fens, huh? Well, that explains why I remember seeing them as a child (my father was an entomologist and took us on field trips into Cambridgeshire and Norfolk) but not as an adult living in Essex!
Hi Anna, that is a beautiful butterfly and you did so well with all the other b words, too! Beers! (That's like cheers, with a b ;-).
ReplyDelete'tis lovely, to be sure!
ReplyDeleteROG, ABC WEDNESDAY team
Butterfly was a very good choice for B today. Butterflies are among some of my favorite things.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I love the imagery of this butterfly, with it's damaged wings, floating off on the balmy breeze.
ReplyDeleteTruly a beautiful butterfly.
ReplyDeleteDonna - ABC Wednesday
Amazing capture! there is something about butterflies that make them seem magical.
ReplyDeleteDear Anna, What an amazing and beautiful creature. I loved seeing it on the Heliotrope where its wing colour complemented the plant so well.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photo Anna! We have all sorts of butterflies here but I have never seen a swallowtail. Now I feel I need to!
ReplyDeleteBewitched indeed! There is something about butterflies that is simply irresistable.
ReplyDeleteI also have to say it was a delight to read you calling heliotrope 'Cherry Pie Plant' - that's what I call it here too!
Stunning pictures Anna, I do wish swallowtails would make their way over to Wales.
ReplyDeleteK