ID The World Record Set By This Butterfly?

Posted April 29, 2020

Filed under Painted Lady, Rosh Hanikra, Israel

Painted lady butterfly, Vanessa Cardui, photographed by Jeff Zablow in Rosh Hanikra, Israel

Who among you will ID the world record set by this butterfly. Most of you recognize this butterfly. It’s a Painted Lady butterfly, and almost all of us have seen it before. Why is it unique among all of the butterflies that we see in the United States?

Is it the only butterfly that eats this or that? The only butterfly that Glassberg describes as found in “any open areas?” The only one to construct its chrysalis out of Puffs tissues? Discarded birds’ downy feathers? The only butterfly to fly here in the USA and also in Sri Lanka? Or is it the only butterfly to not ‘eat’ as an adult?

You’ll be helped by knowing that this Vanessa cardui was resting on rock alongside the Mediterranean Sea, in Rosh Hanikra, Israel (just miles from the ‘hot’ border with Lebanon).

I see you and some others got it. Painted Ladys are the most widespread of all butterfly species, flying on every continent in the world. Nearly every corner of the world enjoys the beauty and mystery of this handsome butterfly.

Seeing them 7,000 miles from home did bring a certain kind of comfort to me, truth be told.

Jeff

That’s the Mediterranean You See

Posted November 16, 2015

Filed under Rosh Hanikra, Israel

Hebrew, Arabic and English all warn that this shoreline and surrounding are closed military areas. Folks in the United States never get to see such warnings. Our neighbors, Mexico and Canada are at peace with us. Israel’s neighbors, including Lebanon, the Gaza strip and many thousands of terrorists nearby dream of slipping into this and many other stretches of Meditteranean shore in Israel to do really horrendous things. Think about the latest that they did in Paris.

I was working the strip along the shore, seeking butterflies to photograph. I found many and relished the experience. In the back of my mind was the irony of this scene. Total beauty, amazing botany and butterflies, blue waters of the Sea, and just several hundred yards from Israel’s northwestern border with Lebanon. Rosh Hanikra, Israel, 24/7 surveillance, watching this very same spot, for dinghies, kayaks, rubber boats, submergibles, frogmen and . . . .

If G-d forbid any of these appeared, this spot would be . . . And they know it.

Jeff . . . mixing butterflies, rare orchids, and the reality of current affairs.

Middle Eastern Wildflower ID’d

Posted September 12, 2015

Filed under Native Orchids, Rosh Hanikra, Israel

Butterflies, it was butterflies that I was after. Good enough that I was finding them here in Rosh Hanikra National Park, at the very northeastern tip of Israel, right at the border with Lebanon.

I was also discovering many wildflowers that I had never seen in Israel. Stop and expend valuable slide film each time? And time, that too was limited (always limited in the field).

When I noted this extraordinary tower of bloom, I stopped. I’d expect to see such an other-worldy plant, like maybe on Mars. How could I not photograph it? It’s an orchid, No?

I have searched my field guides of Israeli Wildflowers, and awaited word from Israel. Well, enough waiting. Without word from expert botanists abroad, I determine that this is NOT an orchid, but a bloomhead of . . . Syrian Bear’s Breech (Acanthus syriacus). Different. Reallllly different.

I’m telling you, come visit Israel, see the HolyLand, and leave some time to split off and work the OMG! habitats that have awaited your visit for 1,000’s of years. You’ve worked too hard, and this trip is deserved. No doubt about that.

Jeff

Ever Met Snake Tongue Orchid?

Posted August 31, 2015

Filed under Native Orchids, Rosh Hanikra, Israel

A sage family member shared, years ago, that grandchildren, for those fortunate enough to enjoy them, were “dividends.” He got that right. Application to butterflies and wildflowers? Seeking butterflies in the field (wild) often produces a very beautiful treat, wildflowers. Wildflowers that you didn’t expect or know you would see. Here, 7,000 miles from Pittsburgh International Airport (USA) I was seeking butterflies, and then . . . I saw these orchids. What? OMG! Excuse Me! And what do we have here? These, all thoughts that shot through my mind.

I was 50 yards from the Mediterranean Sea, in Rosh Hanikra National Park, Israel. At the northwestern tip of Israel, with the border with Lebanon in sight. That border with its own bloom of towers, disks, and other esoteric security gear. But down here, 450 feet from the border, I was meeting a new orchid, the Snake Tongue Orchid. Rare, protected and very extraordinary looking.

I worked about a mile of the Park, all hugging the shore of that blue-green sea. I worked it slowly and thoroughly. I saw approximately 35 of these orchids (Serapias Vomeracea). They were in small groups, plants usually 3-4 feet apart. Their color made them stand out like a sore thumb.

I looked at the dozens and dozens of tourists (Israeli, Chilean, Belgian, German, Canadian, Azbekistanian, and more), and thought what folks like us think. Why were 99.8% of us not stopping, getting out of their cars, and coming over to gaze at these fabulous orchids, limited bloom-time, and in very, very limited numbers?

For those of you who have not visited Israel, and imagine it as war-ravaged, paranoid, stressed and rocky barren . . . well, no, you ought to visit the HolyLand, for as you see, it it Beautiful.

Jeff