Home Wall Decoration: Chasing Butterflies

I spent three hours yesterday...chasing butterflies. More like stalking, actually. And I am giddy with delight at the result...150 photographs for my new collection! It was a glorious achievement for me. I had never managed to capture a single image of a butterfly in my garden, and now I have so many, I do not know where to start. I'm sure you realise by now that I was at a butterfly sanctuary, and not in the natural habitat of butterflies, and that was how I could get so many shots of these lovely flutterbys.

According to the brochure I received at the Malacca Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary, there are 30 species there. I think I managed to photograph 18 or so different species. I am in the process of identifying the ones I photographed, and this might take quite a while.So, I shall feature only two varieties in my first post on butterflies.

I'll feature my favourites first.

This was the first butterfly I saw as I parted the screen to enter the enclosure. This specimen was a wonderful introduction to the host of butterflies I was to see. Impressive, to say the least, as its wingspan was about 5 inches! And no wonder, as this was royalty...the Raja Brooke's Birdwing, the most recognised butterfly in Malaysia, practically the national butterfly. International trade of this butterfly is prohibited, as it is a protected species.

Raja Brooke's Birdwing
Trogonoptera brookiana

Inside, there were more of this variety...they were the most visible, not only because of their superior size, but also because they loved to stay at one place for quite a long time before they moved on to attach themselves to another place.

This fella seemed to be filling up on gas for the next flight out!

I didn't realise that butterflies need to drink, no wonder there was a small waterfall from which the water made puddles among the pebbles, so that the butterflies could stop by for a drink. I would think the nectar provided enough liquid nourishment! Ignorant me. I am learning quite a bit about butterflies with the reading up I'm doing for this post. That's part of the excitement for me...learning new things.

This one, I actually caught landing on the yellow ixora!

The Common Birdwing
Troides helena

This is another large butterfly. I love this particular Common birdwing in the image below, damaged wing and all. This Troides helena had graciously deigned to let me shoot it feeding on the yellow ixora. How's that for colour coordinated dining?

The Common birdwing is among the largest butterflies you will find in Asia. The ones in the photographs are about 6 inches from one wing tip to the other.