Tiny Surprises

Ladybugs are beautiful creatures. It wasn’t a surprise to me to find the ladybug—my friend Heather found it. What surprised me was seeing a beautiful black shaped heart on his back. I noticed it while editing my photographs. It is just another of those neat God moments found in His nature! Location: The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

Clever

Capturing this photo of a snail on a poppy pod was a lot of fun. My friend, Heather and I went to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, and she found many critters for us to photograph. This snail was a great model. We put him on the pod and waited for him to come out of his shell. Heather said, “Do you want me to use my purple sweater as a background?” What a brilliant idea! You can even see our fingerprints on the pod. Location: Athens, Georgia

Bottled Up!

The Lord made the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly such a spectacular process! The brilliantly colored yellow, green, and black monarch caterpillar meanders around devouring milkweed a million miles an hour. It then bottles itself up in a stunning chrysalis to later explode into a beautiful butterfly. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature —have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

“New Life”

Raising swallowtail and monarch caterpillars was a privilege. Right before my eyes, I witnessed their amazing transformation into a beautiful butterfly. When a person receives Christ as their Lord and Savior, the transformation is more miraculous! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 As we remember Good Friday and the sacrifice of His death on the cross, remember also He rose from the grave. “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” Matthew 28:6 Happy Easter!

Todd

Todd Fielding Cooper was tragically killed on October 9,1998—he was only 16 years old. Miraculously, twenty years later, on October 27, 2018, we released a male monarch butterfly in his memory. What makes this event so miraculous? I did not know Todd or his mother Anne. Lisa, a friend of mine, knew Anne and brought her over to my house the day we released his butterfly. As we walked into my backyard, Anne pointed to the house behind mine and said, “My parents live there.” Lisa started crying. It was the last place Anne saw Todd alive. He was killed less than one mile from my house. I placed a small circular tag on Todd’s butterfly, which has three specific letters and numbers to track his migration to Mexico. Monarch Watch distributes these tags and the data collected aids in research. Todd’s tag numbers are ZEU 853. It was a pleasure to raise and release a monarch butterfly in Todd’s memory. Location: Athens, Georgia

Passion Lady

Gulf fritillary butterflies are also called passion butterflies. The passion flower is the host plant in which females lay their eggs. The female fritillary butterflies are generally slightly larger, have more brown markings and are usually darker in color. Location: Athens, Georgia

Goliath

Goliath was a very large monarch caterpillar. He was nicknamed Fat Boy by my husband and me. I thought it would be nicer to have a more majestic name, hence the name Goliath.

Nite! Nite!

This is Lucky Jr., a monarch caterpillar, eating away at this common milkweed. He is named Lucky Jr. because he is lucky to be alive. I had a monarch caterpillar named Lucky, but he got sick and did not make it. So, I named this one Lucky Jr. A head count is necessary when swapping out fresh milkweed for the little critters to make sure no one gets left behind. At this time, they were only two centimeters long. One caterpillar was missing and I had no idea where he was. I looked everywhere. I kept a container on my table to put all the old leaves in. There he was on a leaf! He has his own milkweed plant and butterfly cage so when he becomes a butterfly, I can give him his special name. Location: Athens, Georgia

Sweet Dreams

I enjoyed photographing the bees while they were asleep on the flowers. I had to be quick as the morning sun was waking them up:) Location: The State Botanical Garden of Georgia

Georgia

“Georgia” is my first male monarch butterfly that I have raised from an egg. It has been a rewarding, yet arduous process. He wasn’t doing very well and wasn’t thriving. He would lie on his side and not do anything. I turned my guest bathroom into Georgia’s spa. I warmed the room with a small heater, cut up fresh orange slices, and made some honey water for him to feed on. He got much stronger, and I released him two days later due to all the rain from hurricane Florence. He was tagged with a special tag from Monarch Watch. This tiny tag can be used to track their migration to Mexico. If found, the tag should be reported through the Monarch Watch website.

Little Fellow

“Little Fellow” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I was enjoying photographing a beautiful flower and then a grasshopper decided to make the photograph look even better.

Yellow Mustache

A bee has a "Yellow Mustache" from all the pollen on the flowers! Location: The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

Just for Me

New Guinea Birdwing Butterfly The Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center at Callaway Gardens is an amazing place. Over 1,000 tropical butterflies get to enjoy their short lives in a magical place, filled with abundant flowers, and fresh fruit to feed on. Time and time again this stunning butterfly landed on the ends of a few tree branches. At first, I thought it was its favorite tree until I realized over the next two days that he never landed there again. It’s just another one of the God things. I love it! Location: Pine Mountain, Georgia

Exquisite Jewels

The chrysalis of the monarch butterfly is a sight to be seen. It is beautiful with exquisite yellow and black looking jewels near the top. Finding the chrysalis is just another one of those God things!

Radiant Beauty

While at a farm in Helen, Georgia, I chased an Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly as it fed on the sunflowers. The backlighting made the sunflower glow!

Coming and Going

A snail "Coming and Going" at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

Hang in There!

A hickory tussock moth caterpillar hangs from a pink zinnia at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

New Beginnings

Little did I know this day would change dramatically for me. All I wanted was a few black swallowtail caterpillars from my friend. I left her house with five and accidentally bought one when I purchased parsley for them to eat. So much of my time and attention have gone into these little fellows as I have cared for them in my house. I wasn’t planning on them staying in my house. That’s just how it worked out. I loved watching God's amazing transformation of them becoming butterflies!

A Great Surprise!

A zebra longwing butterfly made a rare visit to Athens, Georgia.

Posing

A blue dasher dragonfly perch on this Crocosmia which made it easy to photograph. Location: Clarkesville, Georgia

Nature’s Bridal Veil

A heavy mist early one morning made for a dazzling display on a spider's web at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. The spider web looked like a veil.