(and sometimes the beast!)

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25.1.15

SOME FLYING FLOWERS....

Last week I was driving on the Bruce Highway and there were enormous numbers of butterflies of all colours flying across the traffic in a westerly direction.  Unfortunately, I (and hundreds of other motorists) hit a few and felt bad. Why can't they fly higher?  Anyway, since then there seems to have been more of these flying flowers (see quotation at the end of the post) around.  I also just missed getting a snap of a blue triangle butterfly the other day. By the time I got back out there with my camera, he was flying over the house, never to be seen again.  
Read about the butterfly migration here. Included in that article is this fellow, the blue tiger butterfly. Pam posted a much more colourful photo of one back in 2010 but this is the first time I've seen one.   Apparently their colours fade as they age so perhaps this one is elderly.
 My daughter and I were exploring the Buderim Forest again from the other end and saw a pink butterfly tree which is also the favourite food of the Ulysses butterfly so I was delighted to see someone (although not the Ulysses) having a feed.

A large citrus butterfly lived up to its name by enjoying a perch on my lime tree.  It seemed particularly partial to that one lime and I disturbed it so many times I eventually just left it and hoped I had enough shots to satisfy my curiousity.  
Not sure if it's my imagination because I couldn't see any eggs the next day, but it looked to be trying to lay eggs as you can see from this close up.
Love the colours in the wings...
 ... and even more inside the wings.

 Lastly, although not a butterfly, I present this blue or azure damsel fly, snapped on a bright green lily pad. It was quite a distance away so a little hard to be sure if it's blue, azure or something else.
He was very tiny as you can appreciate so I was very pleased to get a half-way decent shot of him. Love those little pads coming through too.
And to top it off, these are the very pretty (tiny) white water snowflake lilies that grow up from those pads.

The butterfly is a flying flower, The flower a tethered butterfly... 
Ponce Denis Ecouchard Lebrun



6 comments:

  1. Just gorgeous Sandy! But don't think I've ever seen a citrus butterfly before. Isn't it beautiful?!! Great shots again, of course! ♥

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  2. They are beautiful. I posted about one that flew in a while back; they have another name, Orchard swallow tail. I'll have to keep watch on the lime (which currently has 9 limes thank you) to see if any caterpillars appear. I also posted another one ages ago that had the tail here: http://snapshotsofbeauty.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/flutter-by.html.

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  3. Such brilliant colours Sandy... I'm amazed. Your photos are great and that closeup is beautiful.
    Love those snowflake lillies too - wow :D)

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  4. Thank you, Susan. Someone told me it's the Canon that makes the difference, but I'm not sure. Just enjoying when it works! The lilies are more amazing because I took the shot from the 1st floor.

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    1. ... it's also the photographer, finger poised, knowing just when to hit the button ;D) Well done !

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    2. I think luck also plays a big part. For instance, only this morning I just missed a beaut shot of that pesky blue faced honeyeater on the banana palm! If I'd gotten outside 10 secs earlier I'd have got him. But thanks again!

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