Butterfly Fever

tanjabrittonwriter 26 Comments

     Late summer and early fall brought an invasion of the Rocky Mountain region by legions of gossamer-winged Painted Ladies. Denver weather radar detected large swarms of these lovely lepidopterans undulating across the screen in what amounted to a seventy mile band. While this is not an unusual phenomenon in eastern states, it was a novelty for Colorado. Many were the reported sightings and resulting delight shared in newspapers, on television, and numerous blogs.

     Between the end of August and the latter part of October, Colorado Springs residents and guests were also treated to a winged visitation of another kind. Thanks to the 10th annual “Flight” event organized by the Rotary Club, twenty-four handcrafted butterflies landed on the lawn of our local Pioneers Museum, where they contributed color and whimsy to an active downtown arts scene. Those steely individuals with three foot wingspans alighted on seven foot tall poles after they were fashioned by Colorado artists. They were subsequently auctioned off at a special fundraiser and the proceeds will support arts and science programs in our largest school district, besides additional worthy causes.

     One of our incredible bluebird autumn days found me at my favorite museum. I benefitted from perfect climatic conditions and clicked away with my camera. Being encircled by a cloud of enchanting, enormous creations resulted in difficulty electing favorites. Each butterfly was named and each told its own story on its ventral and dorsal surfaces, the intricacies of which were impossible to capture. My photos show a small selection of these inspired labors of love.

Transformation-The Flight of the Phoenix

Tiger Passion

Sunset Silhouette

Harmonious Dream

Huichol Wilderness

Into the Light

Beauty and the Beast

The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons

     When, among those immovable creatures, I perceived the quivering of so many mobile wings, delicate in detail yet sturdy enough to convey their owners to distant lands, I was both humbled and exalted to witness this magical moment.

Click here for the German version/klicken Sie bitte hier für die deutsche Version:

Schmetterlingsfieber

26 thoughts on “Butterfly Fever”

  6. Hi Tanja! I love these! Would you permit me to do a short post on my blog alerting my followers to your post, under the title of “Winged Visitation”, and using photos 2 and 3 as a teaser? I’d provide a link to your blog home as well as to this post.

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  14. Once I saw the sculptures, they seemed so familiar I probably did see this in the past. In any event, I missed your reference to the radar signature of the migration, probably because the sculptures caught and held my attention. It was great fun to see them (again?)!

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    • Thank you! I definitely don’t expect a fellow blogger to remember previous posts, especially if they were published years ago. But I have had very similar experiences of vaguely remembering someone else’s post only to have the full memory return upon rereading it.

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