Shadows of Magic

September 18/2018   Magic at the Ontario Butterfly Conservatory

When downloading my pictures of the day I realized that there was more "magic".  Now remember I just point and shoot my little camera.  But these guys hanging against the window became art to us.  They were all fluttering up in top on the windows...... how cool?

Lepidoptera

Sept 18/2018  Weather 75, sunny, lovely day to go to the Ontario Butterfly Conservatory (OBC) in Cambridge.  Lepidoptera is the order of insects that includes butterflies and moths.  How do you say that? " Lep e dop tera "    Yes it is a bit of a mouth full.  When we had a stick home we had some butterfly bushes around our yard and in the fall they would be covered with Monarch butterflies migrating south. 

tropical rainforest conservatory setting

hatching of butterflies

The Monarch will fly all the way to Mexico from Canada!  Such a small beautiful little thing, all that way?  Amazing.  The OBC had a tagging of some hundred Monarchs on the weekend and these guys will fly south and be scanned and found and recorded in Mexico and California for research and preservation purposes.   
The Conservatory has a few rooms of educational preparation for you to understand how a Butterfly is born and the 750 species in the world and the difference between a moth and a butterfly.  Do you know?

a couple of butterflies landed

Owl butterflies feeding on orange slices

After learning some facts you can walk into the rainforest type conservatory where you will be swerving and walking amongst the 2,500 butterflies fluttering around.   Stand still and they will land on your shoulder, your head, your finger!!!    It is rather magical.  The different types and colours are exquisite.  We were enamoured with the blue morpho - they are the largest in the world with wings spanning 5 to 8 inches.  The little devils were everywhere.  Do you think we could get a picture?  Haha no way.  They did not sit much and it was almost comical how we spent a good hour trying to get a shot.  They were fabulous.  Finally got the shot.... well sorry it is in a frame and she was not alive..... but we got it!

blue morpho butterfly