Saturday, April 29, 2023

Saturday Critters #489

 It is that time of year again, the butterflies have begun to emerge.

If you have been following my blog for any length of time, 
you know that for several years I have been raising butterflies.
Love is all you really need,
a couple of cages, the herb dill to attract and feed them, and a little bit of patience.
Rather than explain the entire process today, you can read about my experiences,
herehere and here.
The last "here" link being my favorite when the kids next door helped me to release them.
I had so many chrysalis at the end of the "butterfly season" last year,
they overwintered in chrysalis form, in their cages, in my garage.
In spring, they emerge as beautiful butterflies and the whole process is just fascinating.

These are Black Swallowtail Butterflies 

This male emerged on Sunday April 23rd...

This one, also male, emerged on Friday April 28th.
This one did not fly off right away and appeared to have a broken wing.
If that is the case, there is nothing you can do to help the butterfly.

If you are interested, The Joyful Butterfly 
has a great website about raising butterflies indoors, you can check it out here.

Sharing today's images with Eileen at 
Viewing Nature With Eileen 
for Saturday Critters

17 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Hello, Debbie

Your Black Swallowtail butterflies are beautiful, great photos. I am sure the neighbor children loved helping you release the butterflies. A fun activity.
Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a great weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

Breathtaking said...

Hello Debbie :=) These Black Swallowtail butterflies are simply gorgeous, and your photos of them are lovely. I well remember your earlier posts about raising butterflies indoors from their chrysalis, and remember you going to call the neighbours children when it was time to release the butterflies when great excitement ensued.
Enjoy your weekend,
All the best.

Linda said...

Such beautiful butterflies, and how lovely you raised them. I always have parsley in the garden for the butterflies and have had some very good results. I'll add some dill this year and see what happens.

carol l mckenna said...

wow! Deb ~ what beautiful photos and awesome project you are doing ~ fascinating ~ thanks ~


Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I love to see these special butterflies! What an accomplishment to do this. I hope they all are able to fly. Happy weekend!

RedPat said...

I love that you help the butterflies out like that. The shots are wonderful.

Lowcarb team member said...

The Black Swallowtail butterflies are so lovely, and your photographs once again are superb.

Enjoy your weekend, I'm pleased to say we have had a nice sunny start to ours :)

All the best Jan

The Furry Gnome said...

Wonderful!

Jim and Barb's Adventures said...

I love the fact that you raise and release butterflies! They are so beautiful.

Marie Smith said...

I wondered when you would be releasing butterflies again! Yay. Such beautiful creatures. Well done, Debbie.

Lea said...

Beautiful!
Have a blessed day!

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Kudos to you for raising butterflies. I've never tried it but I take care of a butterfly garden at a local park.

Conniecrafter said...

They are beautiful and you got some gorgeous pictures of them with your flowers, that is a bummer about the wing of one of the butterflies.

♥ Łucja-Maria ♥ said...

Dear Debbie!

Your butterflies are beautiful and your flowers are delightful.
Have a nice week.

Pam said...

Beautiful pics. I remember from back in other post you have done that you breed and release butterflies, correct? That one is totally BEAUTIFUL.

Shiju Sugunan said...

Sight of these unique butterflies is truly special! I can relate to your experience as I have also raised plain tiger butterflies using milkweed as the host plant. It was a very rewarding activity.

DeniseinVA said...

Absolutely beautiful Debbie :)