Judy Istock Butterfly Haven at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Heliconius melpomene..

For more images click here..

 

Judy Istock Butterfly Haven at

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

2430 N Cannon Dr Chicago

May 30, 2012:

A day trip to Judy Istock Butterfly Haven..

And you see it all.. colourful butterflies sipping sweet nectar, opening their wings wide open for sunning, engaging in territorial fights, courtship dance and mating..  And then observe some interesting facts, how male of the species are more colorful and smaller than female counterparts,  and how the colors of the inner and outer wings may be widely different!!!  To add, there is butterfly release everyday and you may see a  just emerged butterfly [from the chrysalis] first flight! And when you leave the Haven, see the chrysalis and emerging butterflies...

 

Sipping nectar

[Male] Cairns Birdwing / Ornithoptera euphorion..
Family: Papilionidae ...

They are so huge that the name Birdwing!

The above and below images are of the male Cairns Birdwing. and then are images of female of the same species [Cairns Birdwing].. Note how males are more colorful and smaller than their female counterpart.

You can check more images of this species  click here..

Wings open..

[Male] Cairns Birdwing / Ornithoptera euphorion..
Family: Papilionidae

[Female] Cairns Birdwing / Ornithoptera euphorion..

Family: Papilionidae

Wings open

[Female] Cairns Birdwing / Ornithoptera euphorion.
Family: Papilionidae

 

Sunning!!!

Blue Morpho / Morpho melanus ...

And this is a particularly interesting butterfly.  

See how different it looks with it's wings closed.. Image below..

Blue Morpho / Morpho melanus ...

Territorial fight?  Or fight for mating?

Rice Paper Butterfly / Idea leuconoe..
Family: Brush-footed butterfly/ Nymphalidae ...

And here are some more images Rice Paper Butterfly click here..

 Mating

Thaos Swallowtail  / Papilio thaos

Butterfly release in the Haven

A giant Owl Butterfly sits of the bench and a great photo-op!

And as you leave the Butterfly Haven, you can observe  butterflies emerging from Chrysalis..

As a marker reads..

The Chrysalis is the third stage of a butterflies life. In this stage, the larve changes from a caterpillar to an adult. This change is called metamorphosis.

Nature Museum staff do not breed butterflies in the Judy istock Butterfly Haven, but instead purchase the chrysalis from butterfly farms around the world.

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Steel Root by Steve Tobin   click here..

By blog on Butterfly Haven, with more than 70 species of butterflies listed..
The Butterfly Haven  click here..

Chicago NATO Summit 2012

Anti War protests
Chicago NATO Summit 2012..

Randolph Street, Chicago Loop..

Anti War protests

Anti War protests

Summer in the city

May 10, 2012..
I was following the summertime entry of sailboats to Lake Michigan, through the Chicago River..and the fascinating bridgelifts .. And just before the boats completed their long journey, there was this.. the water arc / water jet  from Nicholas J Melas Centennial Fountain [..click here ] which shoots every hour was in full fury.. It was kind of fun watching this!
Here is the last part of the sailboat's journey..

Crosses the Michigan Avenue bridge..

Crosses the Columbus Drive bridge..

Time to cross the Nicholas J Melas Centennial Fountain..

There was no option.. Maybe they enjoyed the water spray, after a very long journey..

Enjoy your summer stay ...

For more on Nicholas J. Melas Fountain ..click here

Chicago River Bridge Lifts

DuSable bridge/ Michigan Avenue bridge

May 10, 2012..

A beautiful summer day! And I walked along the Chicago River, to enjoy and photograph, a summer-ritual that takes place each year: Chicago River Bridge Lifts..

Chicago is famous for its movable bridges. Each year in spring and fall seasons, these bridges lift, to accomodate the entry and exit of sailboats and other tall vessels, to and from Lake Michigan, for the summer months.

I followed the bridge lifts from Lake street bridge to Lakeshore Drive bridge..

Lake Street bridge

Franklin-Orleans Street bridge

Wells Street bridge

LaSalle Street bridge

Clark Street bridge

Dearborn Street bridge

State Street bridge

Wabash Avenue bridge

 

Michigan Avenue bridge

Columbus Avenue bridge

Lakeshore Drive bridge