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Friday, August 20, 2010

Tattered Beauty

I found this butterfly at the beginning of the nature trail on one of my recent short hikes. It was flying from on Queen Ann's Lace plant to another. The first thing I noticed was that it would land for longer periods of time than most other butterflies.

A butterfly is usually a very elusive creature. They don't appear to have much speed but they never seem to stop moving. It can be very frustrating chasing a butterfly in the hopes of getting a picture. But not this one. It was content to just rest there right in front of me on these flowers.

This was a good sized butterfly; about as wide as my hand. So it was obviously easy to see. And what I saw was that it seemed to be sitting in a strange way. Not really very noticeable at first, but when you take in the whole picture you might think so. The poor thing was in tatters.

Other than the butterfly looking like a crumbling leaf, it seemed healthy enough. It was able to fly around just fine. And it would go fr4om flower to flower. It would spin slowly around on the flower as most butterflies like to do. Watch closely for this behavior some time. And the tattered condition just didn't seem to hinder its flight.

There are several things that could cause this ragged look. Maybe another animal attacked it, or there were several attacks. All unsuccessful, I might add. Maybe it is just from normal wear and tear of a lifetime. Think about what any animal in later stages of life might look.

But the main thing I noticed about this butterfly was that even with this tattered condition it was still a beautiful creature. I think of butterflies as the flowers of the animal kingdom. And maybe this butterfly was old, but it was still was a beautiful flower, just like the others.

Youth is generally associated with beauty, but is that always the real story? Maybe we think that way because youth symbolizes strong life. The real beauty is in life. Life is what we see as beauty when we dig down to our depths and really think about it. Life is our greatest gift. It's as precious and as delicate as this butterfly.


Nature Center Magazine - Today's Free Wallpaper brings us the return of the photos of Steve of Out On The Prairie. He's an excellent photographer with a vast knowledge of nature. Take a look!

20 comments:

  1. are you and Rainfield twin brothers? your styles in blogging are so much alike. both the photos and texts are very substantial. :)

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  2. The butterfly is still very pretty even with it's tattered wings

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  3. I am starting to see more tattered wings on the butterflies, dragonflies and bees. They have had a busy summer and it shows. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder and we will see them as beautiful creatures even with torn wings. Great photos of both the butterfly and flower Ratty.

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  4. The beauty of surviving the harsh elements of life,this is what I saw with this tattered butterfly..

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  5. Ratty--I found new moth species. Interesting one. Will post it later. Still searching for more info about it. But, this one is really poor butterfly. I've seen some like this before. Even can't fly anymore.

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  6. Butterflies are beautiful and delicate! I liked your description of them being the flowers of the animal kingdom. Flowers that are mobile, I like that!

    Caught a glimpse of your deep appreciation of nature on this post, keep letting it shine through.

    Bill:www.wildramblings.com

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  7. When you see them at a glance you don't always catch the injuries.This swallowtail is at the end of its season, but still spreading its beauty through reverence in nature.

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  8. Wear and tear of a lifetime is very cruel, everyone of us has to go through.

    If we cannot avoid it, then face it with much happiness.

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  9. Ratty- I'm glad you see beauty in old things, 'cause I'm getting there!

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  10. what is amazing with these butterflies, is that some of them look tattered, whipped and blown probably by the wind and other external forces, yet they continue to stand strong, fly graciously and keep their outstanding beauty that shows deep character from their own tests of time.

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  11. I do like butterflies but I agree with you on how hard it is to photograph them...I had an amazing red admiral land on my Buddlheia just yesterday and yet it never really sat still....very beautiful creatures!!

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  12. It may be nearing the end but it's beauty forever remains.

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  13. That butterfly looks like some kitty had been, as some of my fellow cats put it, "nomming" on it. But yes, it still looks beautiful (and yummy!).

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  14. For some reason, I suddenly stopped getting your blog feeds! I've been missing them so I had to add them again. I'd gotten a bit behind lately so I'm spending the weekend catching up.

    Jo and I were at the SF Botannical Gardens on Wednesday. It must have been bee day because they were out in droves. It was really easy getting photos of them but I only saw a couple of butterflies and, try as I might, I couldn't get a photo! The squirrels were hysterical. We got so many shots of them! Which always makes me think of you!

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  15. Such delicate creatures, I'm surprised they all don't look so tattered.

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  16. Very pretty butterfly, Ratty! You're right, chasing after the butterfly for pictures is very exhausting..

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  17. Wonderful shots. It is difficult to photograph them, as they move around a lot.

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  18. Oh, I'd have to feel for this little guy because he looks like he's been through the war!

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  19. Feel so sad for the butterfly. But it's really good to know it can still fly around. And ya, I too have tried taking snaps of butterflies, but always fail miserably. =D

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