Florida Gulf Coast Creations

Tag: Butterfly

Summer Update
Summer in Florida is the time of year when photography gets slow. While there are several species of birds that migrate here for the summer months, we start getting anxious for the fall and winter migrations. It’s a good time of the year for butterflies. Unfortunately, it’s also our rainy season and mosquitoes love the water. Venturing out in the early mornings before the heat kicks in is often prime time for bugs.
Summer is also the time to pull out all the camera equipment, get everything cleaned and refreshed, and decide what needs to be updated and what is no longer needed. In my case, I sold some items and upgraded one of my camera bodies. It turned out to be a good move because the focusing system on the new Canon R6 Mark II is really something, especially for anything that is flying.
Finally, summer is a great time to go back through old photos and clean up the hard drives. It’s a project that needs to be done from time to time because the photos keep piling up. Also, with software updates being introduced, some older photos can be brought back to life. There’s plenty to do to stay busy without being in the field.
Recently we went out to practice with the new gear. One trip took us to the farming area near Sebring where we saw many more birds than expected. Our best encounter was with a pair of barred owls.
Barred Owl Perched on a Palm Stump
A few days later we traveled over to Lake Wales to visit Bok Tower Gardens hoping that all the flowers would bring in some hummingbirds. We saw two, but the stars of the day were the butterflies. They were everywhere and made for an enjoyable opportunity to play with the new features on the cameras. We will likely head back to Bok Tower Gardens later this year when the hummingbirds return for the winter.
Zebra Longwing Butterfly About to Land on a Firebush
A few more pictures from these journeys are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, please visit the galleries listed.
- Other Birds
- Owls
- Songbirds
- Insects
September 11, 2024
Bok Tower Gardens
This past week we took a trip over to Lake Wales to visit Bok Tower Gardens. It’s one of our favorite spots to go for hummingbirds. Bok Tower Gardens is a beautiful place built atop one of the tallest areas in all of Florida. It was originally built by Edward and Mary Bok in the early 1920s and was meant to be a bird sanctuary. He was a Pulitzer Prize winning author and the editor of Ladies Home Journal for 30 years.
Large Purple Crepe Myrtle Along a Trail
The gardens are beautiful with many native plants. Because it’s Florida, there’s always something in bloom. The property sits in the middle of huge citrus groves and the views stretch for miles. That also means the air is filled with sweet fragrances in the spring when the trees are full of blossoms.
Polydamus Swallowtail Butterfly on a Red Jatropha Flower
The tower was finished in 1929 and contains a 60-bell carillon. It is known as the Singing Tower. The Boks gifted the gardens and tower to the US and the tower was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark by President Calvin Coolidge. The music is played by a carillonneur. There have only been 4 full-time carillonneurs in the history of the tower. The current carillonneur, Geert D’hollander, has been there for 11 years. The bells are played each half hour during the day with short concerts twice daily.
Singing Tower at Bok Tower Gardens
The gardens are a mecca for hummingbirds, butterflies, and many other species of birds. Sometimes there are uncommon visitors during the fall and spring migrations. A few years back a hummingbird native to the western US made an appearance. This year another has returned. It’s called a rufous hummingbird and they are generally found west of the Rocky Mountains. The last time one was spotted in the gardens, it stayed for several weeks. With any luck this one will do the same. But, in case this one decides to continue south, we wanted to capture some shots before it left. Unfortunately, the adage “you should’ve been here yesterday” held true. We thought we saw a rufous, but we weren’t certain. It can be difficult to correctly identify specific birds when they are juveniles because their adult feathers haven’t filled in. Either way, we didn’t get the shots we hoped for. We’ll keep watching for updates from the park. Hopefully we’ll get another opportunity.
For more information about Bok Tower Gardens, check out the link below.
- https://boktowergardens.org/
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
- Hummingbirds
- Insects
October 2, 2023
Rare Butterfly
The area has a new group of guests this year. In fact, these visitors are quite rare. A flock of Atala butterflies has found their way here from southeastern Florida. They were once feared to be extinct in Florida due to the elimination of their host plant. The butterflies only lay their eggs on the coontie plant.
Atala Butterfly Feeding on a Sweet Almond Bush
They are striking little butterflies with black wings highlighted in iridescent dark blue with brilliant teal spots and bright orange bodies. The caterpillars are bright orange with yellow bumps along their backs. Unfortunately, as with many types of caterpillars, they can do a lot of damage to the leaves of the host plant.
During our visit, we also decided to have a little fun with some honey bees. They were feeding on little purple Florida Pulsey flowers and were covered in pollen. We tested the limits of our camera to see if we could freeze their wings in flight. It took an astonishing 1/16000th of a second to capture details in their wings. Even at that speed, their wings were often still a little blurry.
Honey Bee Flying off from a Purple Florida Pulsey Flower
Attached is a great article for more good reading about the Atala butterflies.
- https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/BFLY/Eumaeus_atala.htm
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
- Insects
June 12, 2023
Sometimes It’s Just About the Color
The other day I was in our back yard with one of our little dogs when a large Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly landed on one of our bougainvillea bushes. My first reaction was “wow” the colors of the butterfly and the flowering shrub were amazing.
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Resting on a Bougainvillea Bush
Thankfully, the butterfly liked the pollen on the flowers and stayed long enough for me to run in the house, grab my camera and get some shots. This was one time when the image through the lens was every bit as good as the live image.
For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
- Insects
September 2, 2021
Zebra Longwing Butterfly

One of my favorite butterflies is a zebra longwing. It is the official state butterfly of Florida. Unlike other butterflies that dart around, the zebra longwing seems to fly slower and is more graceful which may be just an illusion because of their stripe pattern. Zebra longwings are fairly large butterflies which can grow to 4 inches. The are typically not found north of Florida and they can also be seen in south Texas.
Zebra Longwing Butterfly on a White Coreopsis Flower
An interesting fact about the zebra longwing is that it is the only butterfly that feeds on pollen in addition to flower nectar. This allows them to live longer than other butterflies.

April 16, 2021

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