Tag Archives: unforgettable

Unchained Melody at NBC

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Filed under Monarch, National Butterfly Center, Mission, TX

Monarch Butterflies Coupled photographed by Jeff Zablow at the National Butterfly Center, Mission, TX

He is closest to us. She is barely visible below. Monarchs coupled in the Perennial Gardens of the National Butterfly Gardens of the NABA in Mission, Texas. The largest Monarchs I have ever seen. A mere 2 miles or so from the Mexican border and the border wall.

Me? Sitting here watching the rain, it 52 degrees Fahrenheit outside, in usually sunny Georgia.

What does this view make me sing in my mind, the lyrics to Unchained Melody, and those summer days on the beach at Arverne, Rockaway, Queens, New York: Oh My Love, My Darling, I Hunger For Your Touch. Time Goes By So Slowly And Time Can Mean So Much . . . Are You Still Mine? I Need Your Love, G-d Speed Your Love To Me.

Sure a trip to the National Butterfly Center is unforgettable . . .

Jeff

The Regals Hold Court in June

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Filed under Flowers Loved by Butterflies, Fort Indiantown Gap, PA, Fritillary, Native Plants and Flowers, Wildflowers
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa - Visitors of all ages participated in a rare regal fritillary butterfly guided tour on Fort Indiantown Gap. (Department of Military and Veterans Affairs photo by Tom Cherry/Released)

Visitors of all ages participated in a rare regal fritillary butterfly guided tour on Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania (Department of Military and Veterans Affairs photo by Tom Cherry/Released)

You say you’ve seen a Goatweed Leafwing Butterfly, Great Purple Hairstreaks, Marine Blues, Diana Fritillaries and Eastern Pygmy Blues. Good for you.

Your chance to see a butterfly that once flew in my Brooklyn, and just about every state east of the Mississippi River, and today can only be seen in one limited meadow in mid-central Pennsylvania is just weeks away.

Each year the U.S. military conducts guided tours of that 100-acre meadow, it’s not too far from the state capitol of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There you will see your first Regal Fritillary Butterfly. I saw perhaps 20 to 25. They are magnificent, and they fly amidst Monarchs, Coral Hairstreaks and Great Spangled Fritillaries.

The guided tours take place in early June, and you must contact the Ft. Indiantown Gap Military Reserve to register. Staff naturalists accompany the guests. 130 folks showed up for my tour, but we soon broke up into small groups, and that Friday was unforgettable. It was.

Jeff