I had hoped to publish another post yesterday, but my 3-day art festival in Lee’s Summit, over the weekend, took it’s toll on me … I came home Sunday evening very tired and wore out! I had a great show and met many new nature lovers, some repeat customers, some former co-workers, and I even saw several of my high school classmates that I hadn’t seen for many years (some since graduation … gee, I’m feeling much older, all of a sudden!).
Today’s post comes from some images I captured yesterday in my rural Missouri butterfly garden, after I unloaded the truck of my booth/fixtures and artwork. While taking a short walk around my land, I came upon 4 Monarch butterflies and a single Viceroy, all collecting nectar from the butterfly bushes in the garden. Here are a few of my favorite images:
Below is the Viceroy butterfly. The Viceroy, a member of the Admiral family, is a great mimic of the Monarch, looking nearly identical to the Monarch. Predators find Admirals “tasty”, but the Viceroy that mimics the bad-tasting Monarch, is usually avoided by predators. Isn’t it fascinating how Mother Nature works?! As you can see below, the main difference is the thin, black line that runs across the wings near the trailing (hind) edge. Otherwise, looks much like the Monarch:
I was planning on another trip to Snowball Hill Prairie as soon as this post published, but the wind is really picking up and it would be nearly impossible to grab some good images on “the hill”. Hopefully, I’ll find more Monarchs as they make their way southward, as soon as this wind passes.
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 7D Mark II body
- Canon 100-400mm, f/4.5-f/5.6 IS lens
- Handheld, with IS “On”
- ISO 500
- Aperture f/5.6 to f/8
- Shutter 1/320 sec. to 1/800 sec.