April Moonset II

When the moon set this morning the sun was well up. It slowly faded as it descended, dissolving into a drift of cloud.

The hill is part of the Wyndale Hills. The mountains are far away on the south bank of the Rakaia River. Southern black backed gulls are very common at this time in the morning. They move slowly and I'm always on the lookout for them.

This afternoon I again sat in the warm sunshine beside the viburnum bushes. There were few yellow admirals today, but plenty of other insects were visiting the flowers. I was astonished to see among them a little native copper butterfly, Lycaena salustius complex. They are called the common copper, but I have not seen one here before. They fly swiftly and erratically, alighting only briefly on a flower. I found it really challenging to get a shot of it, especially as I'm still hobbling, but I did get one good enough for ID purposes. I put it here for anyone who is interested. Body length about 13 mm.