Lately we are having a Butterfly Bonanza! The seasonal conditions have been perfect for a build-up of butterflies to numbers we haven’t seen in years.

What is adding to their presence is they are being concentrated on the few plants that are in flower at this time.

There is the usual big influx of migrant species such as the Lemon Migrant and the Caper White.

Caper White – © Ed Frazer

The Caper Whites are very variable and all colour forms are present. The migration seems to be much later this year as they usually one of the first butterfly species to arrive.

The Lemon Migrants are also very variable and both the light and dark forms are present this year.

Lemon Migrant – © Ed Frazer

In 2020 we are seeing a few Yellow Migrants that are far less common. They have yellow underwings and white forewings on the upper-side.

Yellow Migrant – © Ed Frazer

This year has again been a bumper year for Blue Tigers. They are infrequent migrators, but when they do come they appear in large numbers. A few seem to be permanent, but migrations bring in the big numbers such as we have this year. Little is known of their migration movements.

Blue Tiger – © Ed Frazer

Another migrant is the Scarlet Jezebel. Some breed locally on Mistletoes, but large numbers come in from the south. When they are flying their upperwings are visible and they look like a plain white butterfly. When settled their spectacular colours are on display. They prefer the Red Bottlebrush flowers whose scarlet flowers show up that the butterfly’s colours are more crimson than scarlet as their name suggests.

Scarlet Jezebel – © Ed Frazer

Of the resident species the Varied Eggfly is doing well, with lovely blue rings on the male’s upper wings.

Varied Eggfly – male (left) female (right) – © Ed Frazer

 

Another spectacular resident is the Blue Triangle.

Blue Triangle – © Ed Frazer

Among the less common species that are around in good numbers this year is the Glasswing.

Glasswing – © Ed Frazer

There are two day-flying moths with the butterflies that are interesting. The Hawk Moth flies with very rapid wing beats – so fast that even with my camera on a shutter speed of one two thousandth of a second there is still some wing movement in the photo. It hovers less than a second at each flower and sucks nectar with its exceptionally long proboscis making it very difficult to photograph.

Hawk Moth – © Ed Frazer

The Crow Moth mimics the Crow Butterflies. The wing pattern is very similar and when encountered it will spread its wings to show its full pattern.

Crow Moth – © Ed Frazer

Photographing butterflies is not easy. I find it more of a challenge than photographing birds. I use a 300mm lens, but any zoom lens would be suitable. I find with my 500mm lens it is too difficult to keep the butterfly in view as they don’t stay still very long.

They are active when warm in the middle part of the day which makes shadows a problem on sunny days, so warm overcast days are the best.

I find that later in the afternoon some species are slowing down and easier to capture.

I recommend setting the aperture well open at f2.4 to f5.6. This will allow the butterfly to be in focus and the background will be less distracting as it will be nicely out of focus. If you can find flowers at the edges of trees so there is a nice even background some distance away as in the Scarlet Jezebel photo above.

Plenty of patience is needed so a take a chair and wait and soon some butterflies will arrive on your chosen flowers. Don’t bother trying to take photos of butterflies in flight. Even if you succeed they don’t have much appeal.

Right now is your best and probably last chance to get some good photos of butterflies for entering in this year’s MCCG’s Photography Competition.

Recently (April 2020), I have been trying to attract the platypus in our part of Gold Creek to come for a feed of crickets and mealworms.

No luck so far but I have an eager line up of six eel-tailed catfish, the gigantic eel, five short-necked turtles from penny size to dinner plate, one kookaburra and seven water dragons.

The water dragon is the MCCG’s emblem and Moggill Creek was named after the water Dragon – Magil in the local Yuggera (Jagera) Nation language.

The current scientific name for the water dragon is Intellagama lesueurii which translates to “Intelligent lizard”, a well-deserved name for an animal that has lived as long as the crocodiles – about 20 million years according to the fossil record.

I go down to the creek about 30 minutes before dawn most mornings.

Within minutes I hear huge splashes as the water dragons belly flop into the water off the branches high in the trees overhanging the creek, where they have spent the night.

Usually you see just their head protruding from the water as they swim eel-like to the bank powering mostly with their tails which are twice as long as the rest of their body. Climbing up the vertical banks is no trouble and by the time they reach my hide they have drip-dried with no sign they were just out of the water.

Usually there is one large male with his big triangular head, drooping yellowish jowls and bright red underside.

He is accompanied by the dominant female, usually three smaller females and a single juvenile male, just showing red, who keeps much to the periphery of the group.

If I keep up plenty of food they all get on well and think nothing of walking on each other or on me to get an insect.

When the food supply is a bit slow the male will chase off the young male who usually escapes back into the water. Sometimes a warning is given by the male “saluting” rapidly to the young one and he waves back slowly a gesture of submission.

The dominant female will also keep the younger females in check with head bobbing or a determined aggressive move in the transgressors direction.

The young here always emerge in the first week of January, so mating must be early October as the eggs take three months to hatch. They are laid in sandy soil on the creek banks and usually 8 to 10 in a batch.

The young avoid the older water dragons and feed on small insects among the leaf litter. Like the adults they climb the trees at night and rest on the smallest branches to avoid predators. Only a few survive the predators that include brown tree snakes, kookaburras and even older water dragons. Unfortunately I have also seen domestic cats using them as play things.

The larger Water Dragons are said to eat figs and Lilli Pillies, but I have never observed that, but I have seen them eating flowers.

They will often stay in the water with just their heads out when the air temperature is lower than the water temperature in the early mornings.

I can attest to their very sharp claws as a small one climbed up my leg leaving four blood spotted tracks.

I can also report that the smaller ones can “walk on water” when they want to cross the creek in a hurry. They are not as good at it as the Green Basilisks (Jesus Christ Lizards) I have witnessed in Costa Rica, but they are pretty impressive with the noise and effort they put into the performance!

When swimming they mainly have their heads out of the water, but they can go much faster fully underwater, which they do to escape the big male.

Wild water dragons are generally thought to be very hard to observe as they splash into the creek well before you manage to see them.  They will appear if you sit quietly and wait.

I find that they quickly are attracted to insects and they have very good eyesight.

They will watch from 20 metres away and I throw an insect towards them whenever they make a forward move.

I find it only takes about 15 minutes and I can attract them right up to me so I can feed them by hand.

By late May they disappear and I understand they hibernate in burrows they dig and seal up until they emerge in Spring.

Why not put on some insect repellent, take a seat down to their name sake creek and get to know our intelligent lizards?

 

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