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Beyond the Lone Islands

http://dawntreader-island2.blogspot.com

Tuesday 8 September 2009

Quotation of the Week (37/09)

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

(1804-1864, American novelist and short story writer)

 Aglais Urticae - Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

On a walk through a park this past weekend, I came upon not only one but a whole lot of these butterflies. With my camera,  it is hard to get a good shot of more than one at a time. But if you look closely, there are three in the photo below. (The first photo is mine, too, taken on the same occasion in macro close-up mode.)
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

9 comments:

Jeannette StG said...

Amazing so many butterflies in the past pic! This year I made 2 pastel paintings of butterflies and posted them on my blog. This year it seems I've seen more butterflies than ever before!

DawnTreader said...

I too have seen a lot of butterflies this year. I'm not sure whether it is because it has been an exceptionally good year for butterflies, or if it just my awareness that has been sharpened. It may also be that this summer, my walks have often gone through parks where the flowers might have been chosen especially because they are known to attract butterflies.

Graham Edwards said...

Yes. There do seem to have been a lot of butterflies but like you DT I'm not sure whether I've just been more aware than usual.

It's a particularly vivid Small Tortoiseshell in your first photo.

Very appropriate quote. I'm sitting quietly.....

DawnTreader said...

I did put that first photo through a couple of slight adjustments in PSP - clarifying and sharpening - to bring out the antennae and the "furriness" of the body. The colour scheme has not been altered though. They were all beautifully colourful.

DawnTreader said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DawnTreader said...

One thing I was wondering while I was watching those butterflies... Do butterflies grow in size, once they have been "born"? It seemed to me that the ones I saw this weekend were smaller than some I saw earlier in the summer. So I was sort of wondering whether they might be young ones... I really know very little about the lives of butterflies, though!

Dr.John said...

Great pictures. Even greater when you make them large.

Graham Edwards said...

Dawn Treader: Butterflies grow in the chrysalis and when fully grown emerge as butterflies.

MadSnapper said...

we have many butterflies in the summer in our yard, but never one of these. Lovely Butterflies and i like the quote. sometimes they light on our shoulders and once on my husbands back. we all need to stand still and wait at times in our lives

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