Paper wasp feeding

This morning I decided to return to the common. I really wanted to see what more it had to offer, after my short spell yesterday I knew that there was more to be found than on the plantation.

Being a large expanse of basically grassland, there were a lot of hoppers and they were a lot bigger than those at the grove, not counting the monster that I found yesterday, which looked more like a flying frog. The hoppers were also more difficult to approach, the big problem being finding them. Hoppers are not accomplished fliers, definitely lacking any finesse, they throw themselves into the air, fly a short distance and crash into the ground and instantly disappear into the surroundings. I am looking forward to getting up close to see what they are.

I saw at least half a dozen varieties of butterfly but the one that intrigued me, was the dark with big white spots. After blipping yesterday, I did a bit of research and found out that it was the male danaid and I actually had a shot of the female, which looked quite different. They all look like they are distantly related to the common tiger and of the monarch family, mainly due to the white spots on the body and head, also the crinkled wing profiles. But the one male danaid that I saw today just didn't want to play.

Even though the location was some distance from the stream which was running probably two or three hundred yards away, it was still close enough for the dragons to commute and there was a fairly good selection of dragon species. But they did not want to play ball either.

The grassy ground had a fairly heavy covering of mimosa, which is a thorny ground creeper with very unusual leaves. When you touch the leaf with your finger, the leaf folds in half along its central stem in less than a second. I have heard of plants moving, like fly catchers and the like, but the first time you see mimosa in action, it is disturbing, especially when you are standing in the middle of a large field of the stuff, as I was many years ago. I soon learned to pick my feet up with every step, as the thorny mimosa stems were ripping chunks out of my delicate toes.

I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to capture an image of a small blue butterfly. There were plenty of them flitting about, threatening to land but never quite. When they did, as soon as I got close, they were off again. I managed a few snaps, but just not good enough. So frustrating.

I spotted this large paper wasp, laboring in flight. I saw it land on a tree and followed. I collected the blipped shot and was moving around to get better light and a closer shot when the wasp dropped the caterpillar and flew away. That was just too bad, what an opportunity. Still, I decided to blip the shot that I got for it's rarity value. I picked up shots of bugs, a really tatty pansy butterfly, a couple of hopper shots, but all are easily repeatable.

I was just about done for the session when my left flip-flop broke, the tow strap parted company. Two days ago when I got my foot stuck in the deep mud, I felt the flip-flop give slightly under the strain as I tried to hook it out with my toe, which is why I had to go elbow deep to retrieve it. Obviously the thread had snapped, but a simple sewing repair was all that was needed.

All in all, a difficult session, but it is the bad days that make the good days so much more pleasurable.

Dave