Owl butterfly / Caligo sp.

A very sad day today, as I learned that local photographer, Brad Russell, passed away a few days ago. He had a close group of great friends (including John Andersen and Brett Abernethy) and they used to go out together with their cameras, day or night. Stunning photography by all. I only met Brad on one occasion, on a photo shoot with my daughter and her group at Heritage Park. Brad left a lasting impression on me - something great about his personality. My condolences to his family and to each of his friends.

This photo was taken at the Calgary Zoo on 21 September 2015. I always have a problem with my lens fogging up in this hot, humid room. The ENMAX Conservatory butterfly house display is coming to an end. The beautiful tropical plants are beginning to fade and the number of butterfly species seems to be down. I noticed this beautiful Owl butterfly resting on a tree trunk.

"Butterflies in the genus Caligo are commonly called owl butterflies, after their huge eyespots, which resemble owls' eyes. Owl butterflies are found in the rainforests and secondary forests of Mexico, Central, and South America.

Owl butterflies are very large, 65–200 mm (2.6–7.9 in), and fly only a few metres at a time, so avian predators have little difficulty in following them to their settling place. However, the butterflies preferentially fly in dusk, when few avian predators are around. The Latin name may possibly refer to their active periods. Caligo means darkness." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl_butterfly

The staff and volunteers do such a superb job of putting on a great display of tropical plants and butterflies for us over the summer. I know that I, for one, appreciate this so much - a wonderful chance to see and photograph things I would otherwise never see. Unfortunately, I missed the whole spring and summer, but luckily was able to get over to the Zoo two or three times very recently.