Haven for the Winged Jewels @ Joan Cottage, Coonoor

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Hi I am new to photography and butterflies. My journey as a photographer started with Mr. Charles, a good friend who introduced me to the wonderful and enthusiastic members of the WBA. 

My first experience with these winged wonders was on my first trek with them from Adderley Estate to Burliar on a butterfly count. The landscape, the enthusiasm and the joy of seeing them admire these beautiful winged jewels, inspired me to take up this new passion of photography.

I had the opportunity to be a part of WBA’s Butterfly Garden that was planned in Stanes School, Coonoor and interacting with Manoj, Jeevith, Vinod, Veera and Charles on this garden was a new experience. In 39 years of my life I have never stopped or noticed these beautiful creatures around me and now after interacting with them, every flutter is a head turner.

As any boy to his new toy, so was I, with my camera clicking pictures, in and around my residence. The Garden at Stanes School was an eye-opener for me. I started observing their behaviour and pattern and chanced upon a nice sunlit patch, in my residence which was basically used to dump garden waste. I started spotting the butterflies in this particular area. So one morning I thought why not a small butterfly garden. I got the gardener and my guest house keeper Balu to clear the place and by the end of the day the place was cleared and then the hunt stared for the nectaring and host plants.

The background of place was that it had wild Lantana growing which was a major attraction for butterflies. Another friend of mine and WBA member Samantha helped me with some plants and then the rest of it my wife, Judy and me started sourcing from nurseries nearby.
A view of my home butterfly garden

A view inside my home butterfly garden

My butterfly garden is three months old now and I have the wild Lantana, Ornamental Lantana, Daises, Aster Zinnia, Butterfly Bush, Dianthus, Phlox, Basil, Lavender, Milkweed, Avarai, Trifolium, Yarrow and Blood Flower Scarlet Milkweed. I have also incorporated a small puddling station and a tree branch for placing rotting fruits.

Now I am able to click some beautiful pictures of these winged jewels from the comfort of my home.

Species spotted in my butterfly garden are Common Lime, Blue Tiger, Banded Awl, Brown Awl, Common Grass Yellow, One-spot Grass Yellow, Common Emigrant, Mottled Emigrant, Common Leopard, Chocolate Pansy, Yellow Pansy, Common Mormon, Common Hedge Blue, Dark Grass Blue, Dark Cerulean, Club Beak, Pioneer, Common gull, Common Sailer, Red Pierrot, Common Evening Brown and Plain Tiger.

Well it is work in progress; need to add some more host plants. The Joy of this garden is what inspires me. Last but not the least this interest in butterflies has helped people around me to open their eyes to the surroundings and created awareness of butterflies, now you can often hear my wife Judy shouting “Frank, come fast here is a butterfly”.

Story Credit – Franklin Sukumar Marshall, Coonoor
Chocolate Pansy

Chocolate Pansy

Common Leopard

Comments

  1. vinodNovember 20, 2017 at 11:20 AM

    Superb initiative Frank! We are proud of your initiative and it opens the mind to what we as individuals can do with our own resources to live with Nature and appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete

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