Flitter-Flutterers

I don't usually think of October as a time for butterflies, but this October has been quite wonderful to see all sorts of them. I offer here two flutterbys: a monarch and a buckeye, with videos and photos.

Shakespeare Garden in Central Park is a wonderful place to look for butterflies. There is often great sunlight, and lots of milkweed to attract the monarchs. I saw a perfect monarch butterfly on Oct. 12 — no rips in the wings, or any other damage to this gorgeous flitterer.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), Shakespeare Garden, Oct. 12, 2016

The video is set to the second half of Dance of the Hours by Ponchielli (the first half was used in the buckeye butterfly video). If you haven't seen the prequel to this monarch video, check out Monarch Wannabes.

On October 7, I got to photograph a buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia Hübner) at Conservatory Garden in Central  Park.

Common buckeye, Conservatory Garden, Oct. 7, 2016

I am in the process of a much longer video, to be included in my Contemplate This series of videos. My effort in this series is to create videos that you can put on your computer when you want to relax, and just watch relaxing, soothing images set to nice music. A couple are in the works, and my butterfly video will feature quite a variety of butterflies over four years.

Autumn Strolling in Brooklyn

I took an afternoon walk on Oct. 11 in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, one of the most glorious places in New York City. I was rewarded with late summer/early fall flowers, trees, foliage, insects, butterflies, birds, duckies and just beautiful scenery.

Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Oct. 11, 2016

I made of video of the stroll, much as I did when I went through the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx on March 31. The music is the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto by Bach, plus the third movement of the Third, performed by Advent Chamber Orchestra.

Here are some of the photos from the walk. You can find more on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden page I've added to my site.

Catching Flies Over Strawberry Field

An Eastern Wood-Pewee on a Sunny Autumn Day

According to the Cornell Web site, "The olive-brown Eastern Wood-Pewee is inconspicuous until it opens its bill and gives its unmistakable slurred call: pee-a-wee!—a characteristic sound of Eastern summers. These small flycatchers perch on dead branches in the mid-canopy and sally out after flying insects. Though identifying flycatchers can be confusing, pewees are grayer overall, with longer wings, than other flycatchers. They lack the eyerings of the Empidonax species, while they’re less brown (with stronger wingbars) than a phoebe. With a careful look they’re quite distinctive."

Eastern wood-pewee over Strawberry Field, Central Park, Oct. 6, 2016

I got to see this little bird on Oct. 6 behaving as advertised, making forays from a dead bramch, when I was looking for the young hawk in Strawberry Field. The Filming the Feathers video is set to music by Beethoven: the first movement of the Sixth Symphony, arranged for recorder ensemble.

The photos were all taken on Oct. 6.