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| Open & close; the black bits are sugar ants. |
-two of the five, or so, Monarchs left at the exhibit. These two are sucking up sugar water on a faux flower.
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| Zebra Longwing noshing on Lavender |
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Bye bye Butterfly!
The butterfly exhibit officially closed on 7 January. I scheduled a docent shift for this past Friday as it had been decided to let those 'late bloomer' butterflies live out their natural lives in the enclosure. Once the last butterfly goes off the the great flower garden in the sky, the process of breaking down the exhibit will commence. I thought that because the exhibit is no longer being publicized & because the weather has been unhospitable of late, visitor numbers to the Conservatory would be down. Not so! I had various school groups to contend with and visitors from far and wide in house. It was a good day & folk still got to be regaled by Atalas, Monarchs, Zebra Longwings, Buckeyes, Julias & one, lone Swallowtale.
-two of the five, or so, Monarchs left at the exhibit. These two are sucking up sugar water on a faux flower.
This Zebra, when newly emerged from its chrysalis, is a striking black with white/cream colored stripes. Our girl is missing the tip of her right wing & some of the color tiles that cover both wings. Under a microscope, the wings look to be made up of tiny scales that remind me a bit of fish scales. Butterflies can live up to one month in the exhibit and the Grand Dames often look sort of like the Velveteen Rabbit, shabby & a bit drab, but nontheless beautiful.
-two of the five, or so, Monarchs left at the exhibit. These two are sucking up sugar water on a faux flower.
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Earthquakes and old friends...
I was en route to my mom's place in the East Bay around 11a when a warning message flashed across my phone's screen: TSUNAMI WARNING...
Butterflies (and moths) are ephemeral magic. And going to a butterfly house is high on my bucket list. I do envy you.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to see the exhibit go. The space will be permanently converted into a visitors' seating area. No more flutterbys ever. *sniff*
DeleteNooooo!
DeleteThere is a butterfly 'farm' near here which we went to once. It is very strange to be surrounded by the huge things, fluttering about in a hothouse. Outside there were peacocks.
ReplyDeleteSome visitors would be thrilled if a butterfly landed on them while others would panic a bit. I had to remind guests that the butterflies were fairly fragile & that we could do more harm to them than they us.
DeleteWhat a wonderful experience you've had Bea.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a good year. I'm sorry to see the exhibit go.
DeleteI love watching butterflies! One day a butterfly kept flying around me, I'm not sure why.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you resembled a flower!
DeleteNo more? That's so sad. Why are they closing it?
ReplyDeleteIt was intended as a temp. 6 mos. exhibit that got extended for another 6 mos. There had been talk of keeping it going longer, but then the plan changed to turn the rotating exhibit space, where the butterflies are housed, into a permanent seating area for guests. Ah, well.
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