I recently visited Nicholas Conservatory again because they had yet another awesome exhibit. This one was all about butterflies! And just like the lorikeet exhibit, visitors can get up close and personal with all the beautiful butterflies.The exhibit will be open through May 15, so if you’ll be in the Rockford, IL area, I strongly suggest you stop by the conservatory to check it out!
When you first walk in, against one of the walls is a small glass enclosure with beautiful monarch caterpillars. This is when monarchs do almost all of their growing. Because of this, they don’t do much else besides eat. But it works out nicely for us because we end up with beautiful butterflies at the end of their growth cycle!Owl butterflies are found in Central America and use their unique design to disguise themselves as birds of prey. This helps prevent them from becoming food for someone else!This guy hung out with us the entire time we were visiting with the butterflies! He was quite the social butterfly ;DA Julia Longwing butterfly perching on a flower for a quick snack. These guys are also found in Central America, not something those of us in the Midwest U.S. get to see unless we happen to live near a great conservatory that has awesome butterfly exhibits!This is a Glasswing and was probably my favorite of the trip. It’s easy to see how these guys got their name, those wings are amazing!We also got to see a mating dance!There’s so much to take in at Nicholas Conservatory. After checking out the butterflies, we walked around the gardens and took in all the sights. It was a pretty chilly day outside when we went, so being in the tropical gardens was a nice escape.Check out what you have in your own area. Visiting a conservatory is a great way to experience nature differently. I don’t get to visit tropical locations all that often, so having a mini-one just a short drive away from me is fantastic.
As with all the photos I take at similar events, I won’t ever sell prints of these images. However I encourage you to use them non-commercially for awareness and educational purposes. If you do use any of the images, do not alter them in any way and credit both myself (“Photo (c) Cyrene Krey”) and Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens (“Photo taken at Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens in Rockford, IL”). Thanks!
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