Emerging

I finally found a butterfly that would sit still for me.

Yesterday I noticed a chrysalis attached to one of the roof beams of the pump house, so this morning OilMan and I went out there to check it out.
Lo and behold, there was a butterfly emerging from it. It looked impossibly small to be a butterfly, but I rushed into the house for a stool.

I needed have rushed. It has been trying all day to free itself from the very tight confines of the tiny chrysalis (about 2 cm long). Progress is is almost imperceptible until I go back and look at the first of the hundreds of pictures I have taken today, teetering on the top of the stepladder, head craned back at right angles to my body, attempting to hold the camera still with one hand while hanging on to the edge of the roof with the other.

The light is now fading, so I have called it quits for today and chosen the shot that shows the curling tongue, the big eyes, and the long antennae. The wings are still a bit crumpled and the legs are still unfolding. It has been a long labor. 

…and I discovered three more chrysalises on the side of the pump house, a much more accessible location when they start to emerge.