A plague of butterflies

posted in: Life and things | 4
Any specs you can see aren't dirt - they're butterflies
Any specs you can see eg sky top left – aren’t dirt – they’re butterflies

It seems this year has been absolutely wonderful for the butterflies of Queensland. Over the last several days the air has been full of them – particularly at the beach. Yes, the beach, coming in from the sea with the strong north wind. Yes, north wind. Hervey Bay is on the east coast, but our beach faces north. It’s a little kink on the coastline. And the butterflies must have been coming from Fraser Island. And why not? If our local fruit bats can get over to Fraser to forage, why not traffic the other way? Years ago we saw butterflies crossing from the mainland to Brampton Island – which is a long way. Butterflies must be stronger than we think. In fact, some migrate long distances. The American Monarch is one such – but only the fourth generation migrates. Read the story here.

Anyway, back to our butterflies. It’s not just our patch of the state – the phenomenon was reported on the evening news. Needless to say, I had my camera with me, so of course I tried to take some photos. None of them would win a prize, but it’s pretty hard to get a picture of a tiny creature whirring past with a stiff breeze up its tail shaft.

In other news, it seems Trump is now president-elect in America. I’ll say no more, but ask you to read this fairly short and erudite essay. I have a BA(Hons) in history. I would say the gentleman’s conclusions are accurate. But the future is unknown. Maybe we’ll be invaded by aliens.

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It’s fairly battered, but it has come a long way
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Look at this! TWO butterflies in one shot!
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Most of the butterflies were white with a black fringe, like this one. With the wings down like that, it looks like a caterpillar with wings. Funny that.
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This Orchard swallowtail butterfly was in the garden, mooching around the citrus trees. The spider web put it off…
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… so it backed away and found somewhere else
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… When it found a suitable spot…
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… it laid its eggs
A brahmani kite at the beach gives me the eye
A brahmani kite at the beach gives me the eye

4 Responses

  1. CHARLOTTE DELLA VEDOVA

    That article about Trump etc is truly scary. It has a feeling of inevitability about it that cuts us off at the ankles. Plays right to my doomsday packer childhood with whose finger is on the button…now we know whose 🙁 . Off to stock up with essentials – again.

    • Greta

      The future is not cast in concrete. Maybe Trump can make it work. I hope, for the sake of the world, that he can. We’ll see.

  2. Julia Barrett

    Once upon a time we were camping. My six year old said, “Look mommy, a ladybug.” Yes, indeed, a single ladybug. And then appeared thousands upon thousands of ladybugs. Clouds of ladybugs. Millions of ladybugs. As much as we love ladybugs, we were forced to retreat inside the tent for hours until they’d all passed!

    • Greta

      There were millions of butterflies, but there was plenty of space between them. I would have retreated to a tent in your situation, too. Much as I like lady bugs 🙂

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