A Photography Story
Photo a Day Challenge
When Lighthunting Yields a Catch
Photo a Day Challenge: Week 60— January 20th to January 26th 2023
This week I finally managed to capture a wild Ulysses Butterfly with my camera! I have been trying ever since we moved house eight months ago. Almost every day I see one or two, but they fly up in the canopy and even if they stop to forage, the pauses are brief. In fact, this large butterfly has an unusually short lifespan and biologists believe that it is due to constant movement that “wears out” their delicate wings.
I have planted four of the host trees for this special butterfly and have my fingers firmly crossed for caterpillars!
That’s not a weird twig in the photo — it’s a stick insect! I had never seen this species before when this fellow flew onto our patio. It’s a Strong Stick Insect. What a name!
The photo was taken after my children tried to move him back to some plants and he flew onto the water feature. I wanted to get a shot of his amazing eyes and the droplets on his antennae. If he was on a tree I really would have no chance of seeing him with those “wooden” features.
How do I know he’s a male?
Female stick insects can’t fly. They are too heavy.
Another Neon Cuckoo Bee! This time I managed to really capture the eyes. The light must have been “just right”. They’re like a black and blue honeycomb. Zoom in! I dare you!
This was the only shot that I got with the Ulysses Butterfly’s wings wide open. It’s a bit fuzzy but you get the idea. Those flashes of electric blue are breathtaking! The butterfly itself has an average wingspan of 13 centimetres or five and a half inches.
On this day, the butterfly decided to come down to the garden around the water feature to forage. It was low enough and close enough for me to actually get some shots.
I am so glad that my lighthunting finally resulted in the feature shot and this one. Next time I need to make sure that I have room on my memory card! That’s right. I missed shots because I had to keep deleting photos…
Another of my favourites has been visiting frequently and the days have been cloudy which is wonderful for macro photography. This is a Blue-Banded Bee. Four blue bands mean female and she’s probably provisioning her burrow in the ground somewhere. See her back legs? That yellow is pollen sticking to the hairs. Bee enthusiasts often call this by the delightful term “pollen pants”. Again, it’s her eyes that fascinate me the most. They’re like magical green crystals!
I was out looking for more bees to photograph when I spied this Ladybird. I was intrigued by her colouring and even more intrigued when I put it on iNaturalist for identification only to have biologists arguing about what it could be. For a moment I thought that I had discovered a new species! Wouldn’t that be a thrill!?
For now, I am assuming that it is a Yellow-shouldered Ladybird since they can be quite variable…
The next day I was putting clothes on the line when I saw this fascinating little spider. I’ve seen them a lot around my new home. A little research revealed that it is an orb spider, known as the Northern Jewelled Spider. Its claim to fame is that it was the first Australian spider to be classified in 1871.
Finally, I saw a Leafcutter Bee on the Basil as the photo week ended. These gorgeous bees cut crescent moon shapes from soft leaves to line their nest and cushion their babies as they grow. I would love to get some video of the process, but they are quick and elusive. Bees are certainly building my patience!
And now I’m going to sign off. As I sit in my study, which we call the “craft room”, I have my camera to my right and my sewing machine to my left. In front of me are windows looking onto the porch and front garden. Butterflies are flying past and my fingers are being pulled to the camera… wish me luck! Perhaps today my lighthunting will capture another gorgeous specimen in the Summer sun!
This photo story was originally published in the online publication Weeds and Wildflowers.
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Jane Grows Garden Rooms 