a heads up | Winged Beauty Butterflies

Coral Hairstreak Butterfly photographed by Jeff Zablow in Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, PA

What a way to make a day! Come upon a Coral Hairstreak butterfly nectaring at Butterflyweed. Las Vegas won’t take the bet on this one, for even they know that this scene is a long shot. How often do you find both the Coral and the Milkweed that is Butterflyweed, in full mettle, and at the same time. There are years when you can’t find Corals, they just don’t support a flight that year.

We were at Ft. Indiantown Gap to see one of the rarest butterflies east of the Mississippi River, the Regal Fritillary butterfly. Not only did I see squads of Regals, but those rich meadows in central Pennsylvania boasted much much more: Corals, Monarchs, Pipevines, Eastern Black Swallowtails, and Great Spangle Fritillaries.

Some days ago, I posted here to provide a heads-up to anyone who wanted to visit the Ft. Indiantown Gap Military Reserve this June 2018. They usually open the base to those who want to enjoy seeing the Regals.

Seeing Regals and such Corals? Excellent therapy!

Jeff

Chilling. I just read that this serene, picturesque landscape is no more. I was there in June of 2008. Frieda A”H passed away in January of 2008. Rachel left her SEC job that same month, and emigrated to Israel. She joined a large CPA firm there, in Tel Aviv. I visited to see her, see family there, and find rare butterflies on the peak of Mt. Hermon. At the northernmost extreme of the Golan Region, Mt. Hermon boasts as many sas 12 species of butterflies that can be found nowhere else in the world.

I hired Eran Banker, a guide, and off we went. Rode the cable car up to the top, a HuGe show of guts, for I am very uncomfortable with heights, and 7,000 feet is very, very high. Eran is a big man, and he lugged liters of water for us up there, in sun 100% of the time, temperatures in the low 90’s, and drier than dry.

We found some of those very rare butterflies, many of those images shared here in wingedbeauty.com posts. Eran gave me a heads-up when he called me over, and showed me a very scary looking land mine, in an area on the peak that I was working, in my search for butterflies. Chilling! Waiting since the Six Day War for?

We also saw cattle browsing on the peak, cattle owned by Syrians at the base of the northern side of Hermon. This hefty bovine is calmly seeking desirables amid the rock strewn peak. Huh? I looked at them, they looked at us, and went on munching.

The background you see is Syria. Minutes before I began this post, I read that it’s brimming with Syrian army and irregulars, Syrian rebels, Iranian army regular, Iranian irregulars, Russian advisors and technicians (and ?), Hezbollah terrorists, North Korean technical advisors, Pakistani technical advisors, U.S. technical advisors and special forces and who know who else, is “the most dangerous place in the world” now.

2008 and my search for butterflies on Mt. Hermon. 2018 and war, across the very same arid land that you and this cow can see. Will this merit your Comment?

Jeff