Photo a Day Challenge
Chasing wonders
Photo a Day Challenge: Week 42 — September 23th to September 29th
I finally got my Ulysses Butterfly photo! It feels like cheating, though, because it was taken in an enclosure at a Butterfly Sanctuary. I see them all the time in my garden, but they rarely come lower than the canopy or even rest. On the odd occasion that they feed from a flower, they are gone before my lens can focus.
The Electric Blue flashes take my breath away regardless and I can see them in my mind when I reflect.
On Friday it was my partner’s birthday. He loves the water and learned to sail while living on a boat as a boy. We have a sailing boat, but it takes time to launch and set up, so when he saw a runabout for a reasonable price the day before his birthday, I told him to buy it.
It allowed us to launch in minutes, and as we scooted across the glassy calm sea, I saw him sigh in contentment. It was the right call! So we chased wonders across the deep blue and enjoyed the sun and the salt air.
We went to Dunk Island and splashed in the clear waters before heading to tiny Purtaboi Island, which is closed to humans for 6 months of the year to provide a sanctuary for nesting seabirds.
The photo shows my partner sitting on the Spit at Dunk Island, watching the children swim. In the midground is the old jetty, which isn’t used much since the Island resort was destroyed by a cyclone in 2011.
We’ve been working hard, clearing invasive vines from the rainforest remnant on our block. One tree that is enjoying being able to move is proving it by putting out a mass of new growth. So much growth, in fact, that the wonder of it is motivating us to clear more vines and chase new growth on other trees.
These umbrella trees can be problematic when they take over a recently cleared area, but on their own, they are a valuable part of the ecosystem, and I think the new growth is stunning!
I didn’t realise that I had captured this Curlew’s dinner in the photo until I went through them on the computer! I do love catching these kinds of shots. There’s a special kind of wonder in capturing birds just going about their business with no fear of you.
Of course, I wasn’t thinking that when the Curlews were screaming outside my bedroom window at 1:00 am! These nocturnal birds make the eeriest noises — fit for Halloween! Oooh, there’s an idea…
Look at this stunner. I had to run to get this shot. She wasn’t going to wait for me to get my camera. She just ambled quickly past us as we sat on the front porch. I managed to overtake and get this shot.
This is an Argus Monitor, and they are extremely strong predators. This species spends a lot of time on the ground, but other goannas are arboreal. I saw another one this week too. It’s in one of my YouTube clips, engaging in some rarely seen behaviour!
I had to chase this wonder for quite a while. Another quick erratic bee, but a species new to me! Little is known about this gorgeous buzz pollinator, so little that he doesn’t have a common name. I know he’s a male because he has five sections in his abdomen. Females only have four.
On Wednesday, we drove to Kuranda to visit my parents. After dinner, we went out looking for frogs. I was in need of a frog hunt! They haven’t been calling at my place at all.
We chased down four wonders with a torch, looking for eyeshine. This was my most exciting find for the evening. A Tawny Rocket Frog is a new species for me. They make the oddest chirpy barking sound, and they are fairly small. Without eyeshine, we wouldn’t have found anything!
On the last day of my photo week, we chased wonders by cheating a little. We went to the Kuranda Butterfly Sanctuary and Kuranda Birdworld. Both were thrilling, but Birdworld especially so.
Dozens of parrots came down to land on us and feed from our hands! I chose these three photos because the first is the Ulysses Butterfly from the feature shot. It’s no wonder I can’t find them when they land!
The second shot is a gorgeous Pied Heron, who dived into the pond and emerged with roots in its beak. I assumed there were bugs in that too.
Finally, another shot of a Southern Cassowary. Isn’t the blue amazing!?
Chasing wonders made the week memorable and full of life. Three new species! I’m always thrilled when I find one in a month, let alone three in a week! Sneak preview: I’ve found more since! But that’s for next week’s story.
Dennett started the Photo a Day challenge in 2020. I started after reading wonderful stories from Kim Zuch. Other contributions include amazing stories from Anne Bonfert, Barb Dalton, Barbara Radisavljevic, Diana Lotti, Erika Burkhalter, Ellie Jacobson, K. Barrett, Shruthi Sundaram, Pene Hodge, Olive Wilson, Mia Verita, Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages and Ivy Shepherd has just joined in! I’m probably missing others… let me know if you’d like to be tagged!
