Looking for fairies

[Alliecat]

This was a humungous photo project. Over several days, and with several different butterflies, I ended up with well over 300 photos. Because this wasn't quite in focus, and that wasn't quite in the right position, and will the butterfly move its wings again, and... It has taken forever to sort them all but I think I'm done. So here are a few of the results of my fairy-hunting eedition in the yard


Aislinn







Andreya (Andi)






Pam



Crystal









As you probably know, fairies are very shy...



Doryn



I admit to a little Photoshop cheat on this one



Cherie






"Look, mom!"

... have to credit my neighbour from whose garden all the caterpillars came. I had milkweed too, that I brought when we moved here, but the deer ate it

Happy dolly-photo-ing, and thanks for looking!

[DeadlyNova]

These are SO pretty!!! I love them!

You did a great job, I'm sure getting the butterflies to do what you wanted was a hard task, haha.

The first photo is my absolute favorite, followed by the last one. <3

[Miss Edith]

these are amazing! If someone I didn't know claimed those were real butterflies - the side eye would have been fierce. You though, just WOW. I love the colours of the wings by the way.

The first photo is my favourite also, followed by the 2nd shot of Crystal & Pam together just gazing at the pretty And Doryn behind the mushroom, way too cute.

[TrueFan]

Gorgeous photos!

[Offgenemi]

These photos are fashion magazine worthy pretty! The colors and how each dolls is perfect for her wings and the real butterflies ! They are just gorgeous. I love Dory’s photo behind the mushroom you should have been a vendor at puddle !

[davidd]

What a phenomenal series of photos! I can scarcely believe that magical setting is real, with mushrooms and ferns and mosses!

I was going to ask if you had planted a Monarch garden, but you answer that in your captions. I recently purchased several packets of milkweed seeds. Last summer I saw two, only two, Monarch butterflies around my house. That tells me that they do pass through the area, so I'm hoping to plant a Monarch garden to attract them. I discovered that there are numerous resources online with information on creating butterfly and Monarch gardens. Where I lived previously, in Hawaii, we had a Crown Flower, or Giant Milkweed, tree in the yard, and every year it was covered with Monarch caterpillars who devoured it down to the bare twigs, and then we would have dozens, sometimes hundreds, of butterflies hatching. I really miss that here in the chilly mountains of Utah.

[GreysPrincess]

I’m fully convinced you’re secretly a butterfly charmer or something. Your butterfly photos are always amazing!

[Alliecat]

Thank you so much, everybody! I love getting really absorbed in photography projects like this. The rest of the world goes away...
They are actually pretty easy to handle, having just hatched. I used to tag them for migration research (not enough around to do that here). I had to keep them overnight till the wings were hard enough to apply the sticky tags, so I still have the "cages" (cardboard boxes with sheer-curtain "windows"). So I can still keep them till they get restless. Also if it's cold they aren't too active. So I get a little time to play with them. Once they start flying away from where I put them it's time to take them out into the sun and say bon voyage.
davidd, have a look for "Monarch Watch" at U of Kansas if it's not one you've seen already. They're carrying on the migration/population research that was first done by Fred Urquhart in Toronto (for whom I tagged) & they have lots of resources. http://www.monarchwatch.org/
Milkweed seeds are hard to germinate and it takes a long time to get them big enough to host butterflies. If you can get seedlings or even dig some up on the roadside somewhere you'll have a little bigger start with them. I spent a winter in Hawaii and was astonished to find a) monarchs and b) that they ate something other than milkweed. Cool
I do have a wonderful yard & back woodlot for dolly adventures, and the ferns are right beside the front steps And a shoutout to "Mei4Life" on Etsy, creator of the gorgeous wings! (And DeadlyNova who first posted a photo of some!)

I don't understand why my computer will NOT play Flickr videos So I don't know if this works or not, but here is the last of 4 who hatched all in the same evening, & had to be watched and removed ASAP so they didn't damage one another.

[Rexicorn]

What a clever series of photos! I love the colour of the butterfly with the dolls. So pretty!

[davidd]

That's quite a remarkable video clip! (It does not play through the forum page, but clicking on it redirects to Flickr, where it plays fine.)

I had briefly glanced at the U of Kansas site before; it is one I bookmarked for later perusal. Tagging butterflies, that must be an extremely delicate task!

[renlee83]

WOW! Huge congrats to you on these lovely images. Thank you for sharing! These are so, so gorgeous.

So when are you making a calendar for us?

[fishy]

They are so magical! *u*

[Cornflower Blue]

What beautiful photos! I can't decide which is my favorite.

[Alliecat]

I'm so pleased you guys enjoyed the photos! I managed to whittle the 300+ down to 70-some; whew. Thanks for all the nice comments!

Tagging butterflies, that must be an extremely delicate task!

It is, but after a few hundred you get pretty quick at it Of all the hundreds, I only ever had one found, but he made it to Mexico from east coast Canada!

So when are you making a calendar for us?

Thank you I'm glad you liked them. I have one PTFCo 2018 calendar left in stock ...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alliecat09...830027895/

[MapleLeaf]

Wow!! You have such a beautiful group of fairies!
The colours are stunning and the monarch butterfly seems very happy to spend company with your girls.