The 4th & Final Monarch

1st Chrysalis Opened

The first 3 of 4 chrysalis opened sometime early this a.m. The remaining chrysalis is 1 or 2 days older than the other 3...

                                                                    

empty chrysalis

pumping it's wings & trying to fly

the last chrysalis...it's so transparent I can see the butterfly inside 

Inspired To Try HDR

I'm inspired to try HDR after noticing the beautiful HDR images on some of the Blogs that I follow. What I'd like  to create is a delicate, painting look. This is a sunshine mimosa which is a groundcover growing in my backyard. It's a pretty plant that opens up in the daytime & closes at night. The butterflies love it & it's a Florida native. This picture is an HDR version of the original image but it doesn't look anything like what I was trying for...I'm going to work on it this weekend.

Waiting For The Butterflies

This is one of 3 Monarch pupa that I found yesterday.  It's attached to the leg of a chair, another ia attached to the bottom of a bamboo table & the 3rd pupa is hanging from a metal plant stand. The butterflies should emerge in 9-15 days.  Originally, there were 4 caterpillars on the same milkweed plant.   All of them were about the same size/age. I took a picture of the last remaining caterpillar & posted it just  before it disappeared. Griswald, my French Bulldog, is really the one that found the pupa/chrysalis's. He keeps checking on them, so I think that if the 4th one is nearby , Grizzy will find it & let me know. These Chrysalis are so amazing & perfect...

  

Munching Monarch Caterpillar

The last few days have been really hot & we've had heavy rain every afternoon ... overnight my yard has become filled with lizards & butterflies. This monarch caterpillar is almost ready to find a place to attach itself & and transform into a  pupa/chrysalis. The monarch's chrysalis is a beautiful shade of green with a spiral of tiny gold dots along its length. Hopefully, I'll find a few so I can post pictures of them & the new butterflies. Happy summer!!