Butterfly bush and butterflies

Back from a holiday in New Zealand and now in home isolation for a couple of weeks, which for us is not a hardship as there are plenty of things to do around the property. It also gives me plenty of time to observe the wildlife, which I am pleased to say has started to come back since the drought has broken and we have now had rainfall in the three months above the total for all or 2019.

Working in the garden I noticed that the Butterfly Bush  Buddleja davidii has recovered somewhat and the flowers were attracting butterflies, took a break, got the camera and shot a few photos.

Caper White (male)

Caper White (female)

Caper Whites Anaphaeis java teutonia are wide spread thoughout mainland Australia with migratory flights between many areas as the larval food plants tend to be found in the northern regions. 

Meadow Argus

 

 

Meadow Argus Junonia villida sub species calybe is a quite  commonly seen butterfly and found throughout Australia where the larvae feed on a wide range of both native and exotic plants.

Orange Dart (male)

 The Orange Dart Cephrenes augiades sperthias range through coastal Australia, Indonesia through to the Solomon Islands. If you are growing palms in your garden they can be a bit of a pest, as the larvae chew their way through palm fronds on species such as Bangalow, Cabbage Tree and Kentia.

Although not on the Buddleja this Black and White Tiger  Danaus affinis affinis landed for a short rest almost at my feet as I was taking the photos. This species is generally found further north and we are at the southern edge of where they are often seen although there are sighting as far south as Sydney..An attraction to our area is likely due to significant locations of the food plant that the larvae feed on    Ischnostemma carnosum 

 a trailing plant which grows on the margins of salt creeks and swamps.

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.

Potter at work

Found a potter hard at work yesterday filling in a gap alongside the door as an ideal spot to place eggs and the food for the young.

It is one of the Potter Wasps of the family Vespidae, species a bit uncertain but think Pseudabispa Black-head mudwasp. It looks similar to the Large Potter Wasp but is much smaller and builds a much smaller mud structure.

The potter wasps are solitary and feed on flowers but prey on caterpillars as food for their young when they hatch.

Red Eye Special

Finally we have had some rain after the driest year  only having half our annual rainfall in  the 25 years I have been recording. The land is suffering and the wildlife numbers well down as they moved away looking for better conditions elsewhere.

We have been fortunate to not have the devastating fires in our area but I have been busy with our brigade working on fires in the wider region. The recent rain has been a welcome break and already things are on the improve with more wildlife moving back, hopefully the rain pattern continues.

Last night we had a visitor attracted by the light and I thought it was a moth that I hadn't seen before but on a closer look found it was a butterfly that I hadn't seen before.

I identified it as a female Common Red Eye or Eastern Dusk Flat, Chaetocneme beata and as is common with this genus they usually fly at dusk (this one was still flying late in the evening). Of the four Australian species found in Australia this is the only one found south of Queensland, with its range from tropical Queensland to just south of Sydney.

The larvae have been found to feed on introduced plants custard apple and camphor laurel as well as native food plants including Tristania and Acmena.