Bee-eater catches skipper

A flock of Rainbow Bee-eaters has been in the area and their distinctive twittering calls announce their arrival around the house. Today, late in the afternoon I counted ten individuals on our powerline that provided an ideal perch to swoop on any flying insects.

 None of the birds had the long streamer feather of the adult male so I guess they are juveniles and females. I watched them dive after insects and then come back to the wire where they manipulated the prey in a position to swallow. Most took a short time but one came back with a butterfly in its beak and it took a bit of time to get it into the right position, so I managed a couple of photos.

  

The markings on the butterfly wings indicate a Skipper species and my best guess is  

"iacchoides skipper" Trapezites iacchoides although there are a couple of the skippers that are very similar.

Rainbow Bee-eaters really live up to their name and are among the most colourful of birds.

 

Well named

After a disastrous summer with drought and bushfires we have had a flooding February and the rainfall for the month, 298mm, is almost up to half of what our total rainfall was last year. The wildlife was adversely affected by the drought and we had a very noticeable drop in the numbers visiting and even many that we would see regularly moved away looking for more favourable locations. 

Fortunately the rain has vegetation again growing, plants flowering and with plentiful water available, our wildlife is coming back.

Today we had visits from a butterfly species that is normally found north of here and that makes its name very appropriate, Lemon Migrant, Catopsilia pompona pompona.

They are quite common in the northern Australian region and we are at the southern edge of their range. 

The one in the photo stopped for a rest on a cycad just outside the office and I was able to get the photo through the window which affected the quality but when I went outside to get a better shot it was gone.

The larvae feed on many species in the cassia family both. native and introduced.