Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Backyard Flutters

Summer has arrived with a vengeance! The temperatures all this week are predicted to be above  30degrees and the hottest day is predicted to be 38 degrees (100 F). Now I know that plenty of places don't really think it is hot below 100F but remember that this place is right on the coast so the high temperatures are also linked to high humidity. Sun rise is just before 5am and birds are busy at that hour but as soon as the sun gets higher they disappear.
While sitting at my back window in the very early morning I realized that there were lots of wings flying passed. They appeared as spots of light when they caught a ray of sunlight. Not birds!  Too small! Then I looked out the window at the other end of the kitchen. That window looks out on to some Banksia roses which I planted to give some shade over the window. There were several dozen white butterflies fluttering around the plant. Some were settling for a few minutes on leaves. I grabbed my camera and went and propped myself against the wall so I could keep the camera still. These were Caperwhite Butterflies. They breed up in the west and then come east looking for food sources and when they don't find enough they set off to sea. A friend had told me about them and there had also been an article on a news site on-line. This doesn't always happen in the numbers that have appeared this year. Fortunately they were settling on the leaves long enough for me to get some photos. As the day got hotter they disappeared again.

I needed some birds for this post but the interesting ones and the pretty ones just haven't been around. The big tall shoots out the back still have occasional birds perching on them although the white cockies have torn the tops to pieces. The other morning there was a crow perching up there. The sky was foggy and grey from a bush fire the previous day.

For more scenery from around the world visit Our World Tuesday

and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday

15 comments:

  1. Wow! What a treat Mick! The first and third captures are my favourites - well shot.

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  2. Wow! What a gift and magnificent photography of the beautiful butterflies ~ thanks,

    Wishing you a lovely week ~ ^_^

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  3. oh, those butterflies are gorgeous! we're just beginning to cool down and get some autumn rains in texas. :)

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  4. Wow - beautiful shots of the butterfly! Keep cool, says she shivering as the snow falls...

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  5. Great shots of the butterflies there sure has been lots this year.

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  6. Hi Mick. Those butterflies are just beautiful. If their occurence is so unpredictable I don't blame you for dashing out with your camera. I am so jealous of that 100 degrees and a 5am start. I would be up every single morning and hitting the roads with my camera. I somehow imagine you didn't have a major problem with cars like in the UH. Some motorways here are now no better than car parks - just lines of standing traffic at rush hours. Each home seems to have at least two vehicles each.

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  7. Love the butterflies. The week I arrived in Tassie, over 10 years ago now, I saw a couple of Caperwhite Butterflies and figured they must be common here. I haven't seen another one since.

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  8. wow, the butterflies are gorgeous. and beautiful images :)

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  9. Ohhhhhhhhhh, such beauty you share with us today!!! The B-flies and the wonderful birds. Nature glows here in your post.

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  10. Lovely butterfly shots which brightened up a dismal, cold wet day here.

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  11. You don't really need birds when you have such beautiful butterflies -- the macro is stunning -- wonderful to have so many of them; what an interesting story they have!

    The crow looks jaunty -- those birds are so darn smart, I swear sometimes it seems like they're laughing at us.

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  12. Haven't the Caper White's been fabulous!! I'm loving looking at my blog feed and seeing so many photos from other blogs I follow who have photographed them also this week. Fantastic Photos.

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  13. Nice shots - really not convinced that spring has really got its act together down here yet, let alone summer!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  14. Awesome! I love the butterfly captures. Temperatures over 30 are not for me, but we very seldom have them here.

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