Monday 11 October 2010

Butterflies and Moths (12): Swallowtail

A Swallowtail at ancient Messine, near Kalamata, Greece
I grew up in East Anglia, where the occasional Swallowtail could be seen on the Norfolk Broads. I spent five years, working in Cambridge, during which time we often visited the nature reserve at Wicken Fen, where these butterflies were spotted on rare occasions. Needless to say, I don't ever recall seeing one.

I noticed a lot of Swallowtails of one kind or another on blogs from the USA and Canada (and here) earlier this year, and began to feel that I was missing out!

However, my (lack of) patience was rewarded in Greece, this last September, when I was privileged to watch and photograph a number of these beautiful creatures. The Ancient Greek word for 'butterfly' is apparently ψυχή (psȳchē), or 'soul'.

4 comments:

Andrea said...

Hello Caroline, i just followed your comment from Rosie's. How serendipitous, i have been studying butterflies also for a while till i got impatient. I love this swallowtail, which doesn't seem to be present here in the tropics (Philippines). But i also occassionally post butterflies common here, as in that post previous to the present. I am sure you will like them too. Apparently though, the swallowtails here don't alight steadily, that my photos are all fluttering. hehe. Glad to be here in your blogsite.

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

Caroline I would love to see one of these big butterflies flying in the air - it must be an amazing sight. I'm sure you were overjoyed to get a great photo like this while on holiday last month.

Anonymous said...

This is a beautiful swallowtail. Here, the ones with the gorgeous patterns are very difficult to photograph because they are never still. I still keep hoping:)
I like bug photos too in your other post.

Mary said...

This is pretty! You've really been seeing a lot of great stuff lately. I'm sorry I've been so behind on visiting. Will try to catch up.