Mariposa Kisses (aka Dianne's Blog)

Nature takes our eyes off of our worries. It also amazes our senses. But, sometimes we miss it because we don't pause to see it. If you love birds, it's time to sit out on your front porch, fill up the hummingbird feeder with nectar, and watch these majestic creatures zoom around. Hummingbirds can flap their wings 12-90 times per second.

They can fly at about 34 miles per hour, even though they are among the smallest of birds. They can even fly backwards, but you'd miss that if you didn't stop to watch for a minute or two. Hummingbirds can eat up to five times their own body weight in nectar each day and also eat small insects and spiders (they're on the Atkins diet, obviously). They actually spend about 75% of their day just chilling out and digesting all of that protein and sugar.

Next stop is a beautiful rainbow. Do you even look for these majestic arcs anymore? Here's Wikipedia's technical description: "A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere." Sounds pretty hi-tech, doesn't it? Though rainbows are most commonly formed by the rain, they can also be caused by mist, spray, and dew.

I love rainbow hunting in the afternoon while watering my lawn. They're all over the place if you take the time to look for them. If you're a night-owl, you might even catch a glimpse of a moonbow, which is a lunar or nighttime rainbow. If you're a beach bum, keep you eyes peeled for a spraybow which is created from the spray in the waves. If you're open-minded, you might even spot a double rainbow. While kayaking in Maui, I was blessed to glimpse the most amazing one against the verdant moss-covered mountains.

Do you anticipate a beautiful butterfly crossing your path? Some people actually observe them as a hobby. These beautiful insects morph from an egg to a larva (caterpillar) to a pupa (chrysalis) to an adult butterfly. Most people think they live just about a week, but some can actually live up to a year. Caterpillars mainly eat leaves while some dine on insects as well. Some even form symbiotic relationships with ants, where the ants offer some protection and the caterpillar provides honeydew secretions.

Butterfly caterpillars have three pairs of true legs (from the thoracic segments) and up to six pairs of prolegs (from the abdominal segments). Certain caterpillars can actually inflate their head to look like a small snake and some can even emit smelly chemicals for self-defense. After the pupal transformation, the adult butterfly has six pairs of legs, but then quickly loses one pair (less shoes to buy). At first the wings have to unfold and then the butterfly must inflate them with blood and let them dry for up to three hours (better find a good hiding spot).

Ladybugs are pretty cool too. One might land on your shoulder for a quick break from his flying, but would you even notice it? These small insects are actually part of the beetle family and can be yellow, orange, or red with black spots. Some can even be mistaken because they are solid black, brown, or grey (without any spots). Most ladybugs are considered friendly bugs because they chomp on garden-intruding aphids, mealybugs, scale insects, and mites. Ladybugs have been a beloved bug by children around the world, making appearances in a variety of popular stories and songs. They have taken on a variety of names ranging from lady-bird, lady-cow, may-bug, golden-knop, and golden-bug.

Check out Wikipedia.org for other fun and interesting facts about nature. And remember to look for some of these cool creatures while you're out and about. Slow down to observe or you'll miss out on lots of amazing stuff.

Labels: butterflies, hummingbirds, ladybugs, nature, rainbows