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Family of Nature WebSites
Field Trips |
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Giant
Swallowtail
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From May 23rd to September 7th you can visit with hundreds of dazzling
butterflies at the Chicago Field Museum. The four dollar adult admission we paid
was more than worthwhile once we got into the aviary. The garden was truly well
kept, lush and colorful, abounding with purple blazing stars, rudbekia, purple
coneflower and much more. |
| The unmistakable trademark of the garden? Butterflies everywhere! |
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Everywhere there were flowers, there were butterflies, and not just a few
but many. On any given flower we saw two to four butterflies. The butterflies in
the aviary ranged from White Peacocks and Painted Ladies to Mourning Cloaks,
Giant Swallowtails and Malachites. |
Monarchs
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| The sheer number of Monarchs and Giant Swallowtails set my camera to
clicking and clicking and ... you get the idea.
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Chrysalis
Tree
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Two of the things I liked most about the butterfly garden were, first, it's
authenticity: host plants and caterpillars abounding; and second, the monarch
chrysalis tree. A large wooden and leafless "Y" shaped tree branch
about three feet tall was literally covered with chyrsalises. |
| I counted over 45 monarchs and a few gulf fritillaries that were snuck in
with them. Of course, the caterpillars aren't that well organized; they had
been placed there by one of the attendants. |
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The gift shop was very good too, although I found myself looking longingly
over my shoulder at the garden, wondering if my husband would notice if I snuck
back. Alas, I have the photos I took as my memory for now. |
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