Our Butterfly Release

We have been taking care of caterpillars/butterflies for about 3 wks now. We ordered the caterpillars in the mail. We fed them and watched them grow. They then turned into pupae. We anxiously awaited for the butterflies to emerge. On Mothers day the first 3 did. Since then more have emerged and they have been fluttering their wings to straighten them out. Two were ready to be released. Since today was a nice sunny day I thought we could set 2 of them free. I brought the 3 oldest outside with the aquarium and camera. I put the first butterfly into Amelie's hands for take off. All the while I am taking pictures. The moment arrives. Our first butterfly has taken off. We all watch in wonder and awe until...

a bird swoops down and starts attacking the butterfly. I start yelling Oh Oh Oh. The girls are shocked. The butterfly lands in the grass and the bird is frantically pecking trying to get him. I run out and save the butterfly. He/she is safely put back in our aquarium. What started out as a beautiful experience quickly turned into a disaster.

I am happy for the educational experience it provided us though. I am just happy that we didn't have to sacrifice our butterfly for them to learn that!

Looking back it is quite funny!