The National Butterfly Center has one of the best Butterfly Gardens in the nation, but I am coming, the more often I visit, to appreciate the much less managed trails through native vegetation that extend out from the garden proper. On this last trip I managed to capture several bugs there, with one very rare, that had not seen in the gardens. This is a Giant Swallowtail, not an uncommon butterfly in Texas or else ware, but a real treat wherever it is seen. I found it in native vines along the dyke-top trail east of the gardens.

Canon SX50HS. Program with auto iContrast and Shadow Fill.  1800mm equivalent field of view. f6.5 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 320. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.