Right on, 404. Butterflies are eye candy. :thumbsup:

If I were to take an educated guess on which one of the butterflies I took pictures of is Chinese I'd pick this one. That's only because of the marking on it's spine look like Chinese characters to me. :confused:

A couple more pretty ones.

Wow, I had no idea you could get so many different kinds of butterflies in a small area like that. In the San Fransisco area of California (well, somewhere along the coast within a couple hundred miles or so of there), there's a place where the Monarchs butterflies breed, and you can see tree branches covered with thousands, just huge masses of them, but it's pretty much just the one kind, there isn't the variety seen in 404's pictures. Amazing.

I went to this butterfly house two summers ago while on vacation in the Adirondacks. wicked cool

When you get to the bottom of Griff's link click "home", but first turn the sound up. :biggrin:

404, Griff, burns334, What were the rules on flash pictures? I would imagine lots of flashes, up close and personal, would not be good for them. :confused:

Bruce, I don't recall there being any rules against flash photography in the conservatory. The place was similar to a green house and bright enough inside so there wasn't much need for a flash in most of the pictures I took. I did use the flash a few times when trying to get a shot of one amongst the greenery and saw other people doing likewise.

The only rule I did see enforced was no touching the butterflies or enticing them to land on you. If they did happen to take a liking to you and lite on your head or wherever it was fine. Just don't try to shoo them away as that would be touching. I had one land on the back of my neck and had to resist the urge to slap the little bugger off. ;)

IMO, it would depend on the type of film used ("fast" enough so a flash wouldn't be necessary), and the type of flash (tilt, bounce, etc.).

But 404 said that the place was bright enough so that a flash didn't have to be used for some pics.

And great pics they are 404! :thumbsup:

That went out with swordfighting and knickers. Nobody used film anymore....except the professionals. :D

404Error's trip to Magic Wings
 

I keep searching through the pages of Magic Wings, in the hopes of seeing the "handmade quilt by Dottie Case that includes the words Magic Wings 5 times." I've even tried Google/Google Images, to no avail. :yelsick: (those posters with the letters and numbers naturally-appearing in the butterfly wings are really neat, btw)

404Error, by any chance did you point that camera of yours away from the beautiful butterflies long enough to take a picture of that quilt? It's driving me mad--I want to find the hidden words, but I don't live anywhere near there. :( (and did you find all five instances of Magic Wings?)

And one final question--what would you suggest as the minimum age for children to go there? My sister lives close enough to drive there for a day-trip, but I don't know if her boys are too young (either to appreciate what they are in the midst of, or to not go butterfly-chasing). tnx

No Dormouse, unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the quilt. I remember seeing it near the admissions counter but as we were with the kids, they were halfway through the door to the conservatory before I was done paying.

As for your second question, the girls are aged 3 and 6 and they both loved the butterflies. I think this place would be interesting for any age group from toddlers on up. Who wouldn't love having butterflies flying all around you. The 3 year old was a little intimidated at first til one of them landed on her and she realized the butterflies are really pretty...and they don't bite! :)

By popular demand, (from the grandkids) we went back to Magic Wings this past weekend. This time I did take a picture of the quilt hanging in the main lobby. I'll be damned if I can find even one of the five places where 'Magic Wings' appears on the quilt. Anyone?

Well, I do see one. :lol:

The top hat in the lower left corner is clearly one owned by a magician ... so there's another "magic".

Can you link to a higher resolution version of the image? might make this game easier to play ...