Red Admiral Butterfly

6 02 2013

Red Admiral Butterfly photographed in Ramat Handiv, Israel

You’re working the paths in the perennial gardens of Ramat Hanadiv, in Israel. It’s a wonderful time to be there, after all in March butterflies typically are fresh and fun to photograph.

Suddenly, in zooms! just such a butterfly, Vanessa atalanta. Now we know that Red admirals can be verrrry skittish, and usually leave within seconds of appearing. But, it’s morning, the sun is out, there is little wind and flying as much as they do requires lots of carbohydrates. End result, our Vanessa a. remains on these flowers for a long enough time for me to shoot away, and enjoy this image with upper left wings, head, antennae and proboscis.

Compare this image taken of an Israeli Vanessa a. with our images of U.S. Vanessa a.’s (click on Butterfly Types – Admiral). 6,300 miles apart and don’t they look ……………………………….. Red Admirals sure are adaptable.

Jeff


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Categories : Admiral, Butterflies of Israel, Butterfly Types, For Interested Students, International, Ramat Hanadiv, Israel

Red Admiral Butterfly

2 02 2013

Red Admiral Butterfly photographed in Eastern Neck National Wildlife refuge, MD

Happily, we never became jaded when a fresh, undamaged butterfly comes our way. Here, we enjoy Vanessa atalanta resting briefly in the Butterfly garden in Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, just 2 hours from family in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Red Admirals are among those whose appearance cannot be predicted. It just happens. Their visit may last seconds or even a minute or two and then…Bye! Bye! They fly away at top speed.

It’s August on the Delmarva, and this one shows the interrupted orange-red band characteristic of summer Red admirals.

We read about their mass migrations…but we haven’t been fortunate enough to have seen them fly enmasse. Have you?

Ahhh! A fresh red admiral! How many times a year do I enjoy exclaiming that?

Jeff


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Categories : Admiral, Butterfly Types, Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, For Interested Students

Red Admiral Butterfly

24 01 2013

Red Admiral Butterfly photographed in Eastern Neck National Wildlife refuge, MD

One of my goals has been to capture a good image of the colorful  ventral (below) wing surface of Vanessa atalanta. Countless slides have been pitched into the trash, because they didn’t reveal the wonderful 3-colors that group together. That red, white and blue bunched together always reminds me of the colors of our American flag.

This August morning, our Vanessa was aggressively nectaring in the lovingly maintained butterfly garden at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge on the Delmarva Peninsula on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. We saw many Vanessas during our 3-morning trip. Those in this beautiful garden enabled me to approach and they patiently complied. So I shot, shot, shot and am satisfied with what I got. Quite different from the skittish ones here in Pennsylvania.

Just months later I was 1/2 way around the world, photographing butterflies in Binyamina, Israel in December. Israel’s Vanessa atalantas were almost identical to this one. What adaptability! Resiliency!

I must note that I have been very impressed with the opportunities offered by the National Wildlife Refuges that I have visited. Yazoo (MS), Blackwater (MD), Savannah (SC) and Eastern Neck have excellent habitat. All provided knowledgeable staff who were eager to give assistance. A Pleasure.

Jeff


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Categories : Admiral, Blackwater Wildlife Refuge, Butterflies of Israel, Butterfly Types, Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, For Interested Students, International, Savannah Wildlife Refuge, Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge

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