It's been a long time since I reared butterflies so I was surprised to learn that now is the time they emerge from the chrysalis. Elanor's art teacher set her up with the proper plastic habitat and the un-hatched butterflies. She took care of them and then got to watch them emerge a few days ago. She brought them to our yard to set them free. Here they are in the box…
Elanor works to get the box open…
We thought once the lid was off they would fly away…
Nope, they just hung on to the box lid, upside-down. We weren't quite sure what to do so the lid went back on the box. Then we noticed the little door in the top of the box and we opened it and left it open.
We got tired of waiting and went inside. When we checked again about 30 minutes later, both butterflies were gone.
I zoomed in on the butterfly in the photo and noticed this one's little fingers. I know they aren't really fingers but, still, I am once again amazed at the clarity of a good digital photo. (Click the photo and you'll see an enlarged version of this image.) Really, a good camera can make any of us look like a decent photographer.
Piece O Cake Blog 
That was great that you were able to experience that with her.
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You can have these in your yard sometimes year round if you provide food and water for them. These are monarch butterflies. At times they are more plentiful than others but if the food is available they will hang around.
Asclepsia (??) is the botanical name for milk weed. In itself it has a pretty flower but this is the plant the monarchs feed on, lay their eggs under the leaves, and the worm feeds on the leaves until it is ready, then it crawls off and forms the chrsyllis. When the butterfly emerges, it hangs to dry its wings before flying away to start the cycle over again. I’m sorry for the spelling in this note.
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Loved the butterfly story. My kindergarden classes loved walking by the “butterfly” bush. We had one forn a chrsyllis right outside our classroom door. We watched the entire process. What a great experience for my Ks.
What kind of camera did you use? I’m in the market for one that will let me take such wonderful pictures. =!=
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I used my Nikon D90. Its big and really nice. Not a point and shoot – more on the professional side. That said, there are some dandy point and shoots out there. I have a Lumix that I use a lot.
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