Ice-Tipped Wings

The day is cold and grey.

In the sky,

Playing with the currents of air

Like an untethered kite,

This seagull soars above it all...

Until it spots something more attractive than flying:

Potential food!

It stands by this hole in the ice

ready to pounce should

something swim by

or jump out.

After five LONG minutes of waiting

It throws back its head

and lets loose a wailful cry,

Followed by a disgruntled stomp

to a new location.

With each step, its feet sink deeper into the icy slush.

It stares out morosely at the cold dark water.

"Oh, if only I wasn't trapped here

in this hellish land of ice and snow!" it complains.

And then it remembers its wings!

Lucky bird :)

All that to say: Fresh snow and ice pellets arrived in Montreal today.

Where are my wings!

We Wait

And so we wait

For the air

to soften,

For the rain

to bring us back

to life.

Candy Shop

Going into the Botanical Greenhouses, I thought I would behave properly.

After all, I am an adult.

I had planned to calmly and professionally
take down the names
of EACH exotic flower
I photographed.

And then I saw the first flower,
followed by the second and third.

Click, click, click,
went my finger on the camera.

I rushed along the aisles,
spinning from one beauty to another.

Like a kid in a candy shop,
my eyes grew large
and my heart tapped a double beat.

I stuffed my camera full of photos;

as many as it would hold!

I forgot all about documenting my journey.

So, thanks to me,
you are going to be none the wiser
about the names of the plants I am posting today.

You will have to settle for feasting your eyes -
like I did!

In the end,
it's not "information" that I came here for.

It was to fill my senses,
to be reminded of what a magical world we live in.

On Monday, it will be back to reality for me and my blog.

P.S. It's snowing wonderful white snowflakes this morning :(

Frolic in the Foliage

Dive into the deep, dark Green.

On the way to the butterflies in my last post:

Butterfly Exhibition

I had to pass through the botanical greenhouses.

I was completely dazzled by the variety of

colours,

textures

and shapes.

Some have foliage as bright as any tropical flower

As prickly as your worst enemy

As wildly creative as a paint-splattered canvas

As fashionable as fuchsia-coloured silk 

As daring as lime-green swords

As glowing as the rays of the sun 

As subtle as a bright red blush 

As ghostly as silver-dusted fingers

As deadly as blood-tipped teeth

As mystical as an old man's beard

And as unforgettably violet as this v-shaped leaf.

For anyone who is still stuck in the beige and greys of spring's exit like I am, I hope you enjoyed this (greenhouse) trip to the tropics.

In Friday's post I'll feature my favourite greenhouse flowers.

Butterfly Exhibition

Rice paper - Idea leucone

Here are more photos from my visit to the

Montreal Botanical Indoor Butterfly Exhibition.

As  you can see there are plenty of plants

for the butterflies to perch on.

Fruits are set out, stacked one on top of the other

allowing us to watch (and photograph) the butterflies that drank the nectar.

There are a number of water features as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the soothing sound of the water as it gurgled over the stones into the pond.

Small troides - Troides rhadamantus

Below is a butterfly nursery.

The butterflies you see dangling above, have emerged from their cocoons and are waiting for their wings to harden.

It's hard to believe that one side of their wings is the colour above, while the other side is this stunning blue colour (below).

Blue morpho - Morpho helenor

Having spent the last 5 months with Winter's whiteness,

these vivid colours were a wonderful treat for my eyes.

Dryadula phaetusa

The butterflies glide freely throughout the two storey room,

stopping for a break on whatever is closest:

a camera, a head, jacket, even a pant leg!

Monarch - Danaus plexus

I call the photo below: Colour Explosion

Tailed jay - Graphium agamemnon

By comparison,

Cobra moth - Attacus atlas

 this gorgeous Cobra moth was easy to miss

as it blended so well with the branches and trees it chose to perch on.

Common Mormon - Papilio polytes

Some of the butterflies had tattered wings, a sad reminder

of how fragile they are and how short their lifespan is.

The Exhibit was thoughtful enough to provide us with an identity sheet

for 32 of the butterfly and moth species present.

The one above and below were not named and I have no idea what they are.

I'll settle for calling them both: Beautiful!

On Wednesday I'll feature some of the flowers

that I saw in the greenhouses along the way :)