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Saturday, June 6, 2009

Other Than Blooms....

With the collection of plants in my garden growing
steadily, the number of my winged and not winged
visitors have increased by leaps and bounds. Which
is why I do not walk out of the front door without
my camera...

There's something new to be discovered every single
day. I've learned not to desperately run after a
new-to-my-garden-insect because I know that once I
see it here, it's going to be back. Then I have the
privilege to shoot my subject at a leisurely pace.



These three swallowtail butterflies--the Common Mormon--
taken on three different days have different markings.
According to some sites that I checked, the first looks
like a female and the other two, male. They always seem
to be in a tearing hurry but for once they were still!!









Found these two heartily chomping on citrus leaves!



A golden dragonfly resting on a bromeliad.



A moth I found one morning.



A beautiful brown dragonfly on a dry bamboo leaf. It flew
away so this was the only shot I could get.



The Bulbul is a regular visitor and its favourite perch
happens to be my Jamun/Indian Blackberry tree. The red
colour below its tail is most striking.





A pair had recently nested on my palm grove but I can't say
whether this is one of them.



I had to take several shots of this colourful spider. A
slight breeze was blowing and with every gentle waft it
would sway to and fro. Finally, the air was still and I
got this shot.





It took me some time to 'befriend' this light blue
dragonfly before it deigned to sit still and pose
for me!:)



A scarlet Marsh Hawk dragonfly. I'll seeing more of them soon.



Hive-building in progress on the Acalypha plant. When I
went closer to get a better shot, one wasp even stopped
'working' and looked menacingly at me!! Getting stung
isn't something I look forward to so I smoked them out
only to have them build another hive just a few feet away!

12 comments:

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Hi Kanak, how very exciting for you to have al these amazing creature around you. Some of them are really beautiful and some I must admit a bit scary.

LOLove Tyra

Green thumb said...

I am sure you must never feel alone or bored, with so much activity going around you; the place seems to be bustling with life forms!
Wasp sting is something we all would like to avoid. These things are incorrigible; you smoke them out and they'll be back soon. But keep trying, after two or three repeated hive burning even their perseverance gives away.

ShySongbird said...

Hi again Kanak, thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog. What wonderful photos you have here. The butterflies and insects are stunning. I loved seeing the Bulbul bird, I have not seen one before.

We had heavy rain here in the UK overnight and more rain this morning and there are armies of snails eating my newly planted flowers :(

I also loved the crow photos on the previous post, we have Starlings gather like that.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kanak, You are surrounded by such beauty. It must take a lot of patience to get such clear photos of these insects/birds and I so appreciate you sharing them with me. Each time I am out shopping and see items with dragonflies, I think of you. The dragonfly photos are my favorite.

tina said...

That spider and butterflies are awesome, but I really love the pics of the caterpillars. I think we must forgive them a bit for chomping our plants when they turn into such pretty fliers.

Kathy said...

I so love your posts Kanak, your garden must be an oasis for all of these wonderful little creatures, and coupled with your amazing photographic skills it is all captured just perfectly. your dragonflies, butterflies, birds and even your bees (yikes) are incredible. The spider is so pretty and the caterpillars chomping away are amazing to see so close up. happy weekend, Kathy.

Unknown said...

Hi Tyra, I agree some of them are rather scary, like really hairy caterpillars, but I'm glad I've overcome that "feeling" when I see them!

GT, I'm planning to do that, about the wasps, I mean. There are more species of insects this year than the last. I end up taking tons of photos knowing fully well that it makes the selection for posts much harder!

Shy Songbird, too bad about the snails. They're out in full force here too!! It rained today. The official monsoon season has started so we're sure to get more rain than we actually need!
Thanks for commenting...I'll check out your birds...garden... again.

Mildred, thank you for remembering me. I love the dragonfly association! Sometimes I'm plain lucky but mostly, even if I'm not that lucky, I still want to be near them.

Exactly, Tina. Voracious eaters that they are-- I loved watching them. I'm planting lemons in little pots just to attract the swallowtails!

Kathy, thank you so much for all your kind words. It's an oasis, yes, but a small one. I used to be rather wary about bees and wasps but it's all right now. Photographing many of the insects has made me realise the diversity of garden wildlife here. Even the spiders are amazing...the size, the patterns on the back...I marvel and marvel at all that beauty!
Wish you a great weekend too!

Anonymous said...

What a bounty of wildlife that visits your garden Kanak. You have created a nice habitat for them. :)

Dawn said...

Wow, I'm astonished at all the wildlife, pretty photos!

Susie said...

Wow Kanak. You captured some wonderful pictures here. Love that golden dragonfly. And the one of the blue looks like he is looking straight up at you.

Thanks for checking on me Kanak. We were off on vacation and enjoying every moment.

Unknown said...

Racquel, thanks! they seem to love it!

Hi Dawn, thank you so much!

Susie, the golden one happens to be my favourite too! With those transparent wings, and in the hot sun, I had to check whether it was really there or not!
Have a great vacation!

Stephanie said...

Wow I am learning so many kinds of insects from you ;-) The swallowtail butterfly is unique. Oh I checked out ugendense flower... yes very nice. TQ for sharing. Have a great day!