I saw a yellow butterfly browsing the Red Birds of Paradise in the courtyard this afternoon. I went inside to get my camera and the butterfly was still browsing when I came back out.
I took several photos of the butterfly as it browsed. In this particular shot, you can see the butterfly’s proboscis reaching into the flower for the nectar. Click on the image to enlarge.
The Astrophytum Ornatum cactus by the back patio offered another beautiful flower today. They come and go so quickly that I was lucky to get this shot when the flower was completely open. In the morning, it was still just a bud, but by early afternoon it had closed up again. It may open again tomorrow, but we will probably be on the road to see our newest grandson.
Damsel took her camera out in front of the house at dusk last evening to photograph a trio of Argentine Giant flowers that had opened. She took several photos while I walked the dogs for their next-to-last outing for the day.
After we finished our walk, I wanted to try my hand at some night shots of these beautiful flowers, so I took my camera out and walked down to the cactus. As I approached, I could see something hovering near the flowers. At first, I thought it might be a hummingbird, but It was getting too dark for that. I leaned over and just started shooting the camera hoping to capture what was going down.
When I finished taking pictures, I previewed the shots on the camera monitor and saw this beautiful moth that had been browsing the flowers. When I viewed the pictures on the computer monitor, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to get several clear images of the moth and flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
We were lucky enough to have watched these Arizona Queen of the Night flowers steadily growing on the host cactus since a few weeks ago. Tonight, I walked out to see if the buds were open yet, but they weren’t. They definitely looked as if they would open, so later, I ventured out again, well after dark, and saw them fully open. Click on the image to enlarge.
This flower opened on our big saguaro cactus out front this morning. Most of the flowers had come and gone in June, but last week we noticed a new flower bud. When I say last of the summer, I mean for this cactus, as there are others in town that will likely have more flowers to come. Maybe even this one will have more, but I doubt it.
Since the cactus is very tall, in order to see inside the flower, I had to take this shot from across the driveway with the telephoto lens. Canon SL1 settings: F8.0, ISO 100, Shutter 1/500 sec., Focal Length 300mm.
I was sitting in the great room when I noticed a black spotted butterfly browsing on one of the red bird of paradise shrubs in the courtyard. I grabbed my camera and went out front hoping to get a shot of the butterfly and flower.
When I got outside, the butterfly flew away at first. After a few seconds, it circled back to the same shrub it had been browsing and resumed. I took several shots of it while it did its thing, this one being among the best photos I got. Click on the image to enlarge.
We bought this “star” or “monk’s hood” cactus at a succulent show in California about eight years ago. It cost four dollars and was in a three-inch pot at that time. It has been transplanted to larger pots and is now in an eight inch pot sitting behind the patio adjacent to the RV drive.
Two flowers opened this morning and are the first ones to open since we have had the cactus. The flowers are about four inches in diameter. There are three more flower buds on the cactus that should also open.
Astrophytum Ornatum is native to Mexico, but seems to like it here in the Arizona desert. Click on the image to enlarge.
