Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tawny Emperor, Asterocampa clyton

I took a blurry pic of one of these butterflies earlier this month. Saturday, I hiked up the hill opposite the mountain our house is on, and chased two Tawny Emperors up and down a gravel road for a half hour or so.



The Tawny Emperor is not nearly as willing to sit and pose for a picture as a Monarch or Tiger Swallowtail.



Maybe I'll get pictures of a Zebra Swallowtail someday? Or a Luna Moth...I saw one here, one night many years ago.

This side of Cold Run Valley Road features the main buildings of the Coolfont Resort.
Coolfont's Treetop House officially closed last June. Since then, the resort has operated on a limited basis. The Carl M. Freeman Companies purchased Coolfont in November, 2005.

All present buildings except for the historic Coolfont Manor House will be removed next year as work begins on a planned resort community featuring 1,100 homes.

General plans for a 1,100 home resort consisting of mostly vacation homes and condos were announced in September after a week of meetings and workshops involving Freeman company officials, architects, planners, public service officials and community members.

The new Coolfont homes will be built in clusters to preserve green space and will be constructed over the course of 10-12 years.

Or whenever a gigantic real estate bubble comes back. Anyways, here's a few pics I took on the way to the butterflies.







(Cross-posted at Whiskey Fire. Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.)
~

18 comments:

Substance McGravitas said...

chased two Tawny Emperors up and down a gravel road for a half hour or so

With or without an axe and a blood-curdling scream?

Dr.KennethNoisewater said...

OK, I admit it: I think that triangle house is charming.

Alexia said...

don't change your blog! I love looking at photos of birds and butterflies :)

no overblown movie scripts, please!

J— said...

nursing tank

A maternity silo?

I thought nursing tanks were supposed to be comfortable and good for wearing in layers.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I was armed with a Canon, S_McG.

vs, there's about two dozen of those up there...all steadily decaying away.

O.K., Alexia...ixnay on the iptscray (I like taking pictures more, anyway).

J__, you're correct, but this is what I thought of when I got to the top and saw it.
~

J— said...

Ah, I see. Carry on, as some might say.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Furthermore, re: the nursing tank.
~

Randal Graves said...

Nice, but I prefer Norwegian Emperors.

Your Orwellian signage is much more welcoming than our Orwellian signage.

Glennis said...

The butterflies are great, but I loved the house with the tree growing out of it.

Sara said...

Like the butterflies, but the branch through the roof. ouch! Great A frame house otherwise!

Bob Scotney said...

Superb butterfly shots. At least you caught them!

Kathleen said...

awesome as usual.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Or a Luna Moth...I saw one here, one night many years ago.

I really have to post my Maine pictures...

21 Wits said...

I always enjoy your views...even in words alone ...on comments throughout the same blogs we both visit...and these photos priceless as usual...oops on the roof photo. quite detailed shot there! ...and I'm still laughing about the sign's polite way of saying what they're up to! Great DETAIL TP! Thanks!...and I'd love that house too!- perfect style!

Little Nell said...

Clicking and enlarging those buttterfly shots really shows the details - real beauties.

lisahgolden said...

I love how you captured all those subtle colors in the yellow swallowtail.

And in Indiana, where I grew up, they'd made a monument of the tree growing out of the roof of a building.

Re: your comment about hermits. I wish!

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Thanks for the kind words, people.

But I have a confession to make!

I now believe, (hat tip: John R.) that the top two are Great Spangled Fritillaries (Speryeria cybele).

Note the dark spots on the trailing wings of the Tawny Emperor.
~

carmilevy said...

I cringed when I saw the roof. Risks of modern life, I guess.

National Geographic called. They want their pics of butterflies back.

Seriously, unreal shooting. Again :)