The Butterfly Waltz

You recall how I mentioned you would need snorkelling equipment for this entry? Well, it was because this time, we are headed underwater. And not just any water. We're talking the warm tropical seas off the coast of Cairns, Queensland. The very first time Huguette and I explored the Great Barrier Reef was on 5th August 2022, and I think it is not inaccurate to say that it was a life-changing experience for both of us. We departed Cairns early in the morning, and embarked on one of the big reef boats that operate these day trips (from memory, I believe the company was called Great Adventures). After a 40-minute-or-so boat ride, we arrived on tiny Green Island, which was to be our first stop of the day. There are fantastic snorkelling opportunities directly off the beach at Green Island, and we saw multitudes of colourful fish species in the tranquil, sunlit waters. One of the more common species that we encountered was the Lagoon Triggerfish ( Rhinecanthus aculeatus ), which we wou...

Time is a strange thing, isn't it? All you needed to do, dear reader, was turn the page; but since I wrote the last entry of The Butterfly Waltz , four months have passed for me. Four months to turn a page? Think about it. But I'm glad you're still here. My wife Huguette and I left the Coffs Coast and our small seaside town of Woolgoolga at the end of March 2022. We would be making the long drive up to Cairns from there, as Huguette had secured a job at the Pullman International Hotel, and I had also found full-time work as a reservations agent. Before we launch ourselves into the richness and beauty that characterises Far North Queensland however, there is one more entry I need to dedicate to Woolgoolga - or more specifically, to a road trip we did inland of Woolgoolga. One special destination that was included in this trip was Girraween National Park in south-east Queensland, located approximately three and a half hours' drive from Brisbane. This is where I photograph...

The night was muggy and warm as I parked the car on the side of a remote stretch of Woolgoolga Creek Road. The rainforest was dark around me as I switched the car engine off. Leaving the headlights on, I got out of the car and began setting up my very rudimentary system: a large pale bedsheet suspended in tension (attached to my tripod on one end with pegs, and to a nearby branch on the other end, also with pegs), and waited. My aim? To attract the nocturnal insects of the rainforest: in particular, moths. The setup was not ideal and looked a bit strange, as I didn't have the knowledge or equipment to set up a proper, more professional-looking system. However, it still worked wonders at attracting the small and mysterious inhabitants of the night; almost immediately, the bedsheet became dotted with insects of various sizes. I was most excited about the moths of course, and some were truly beautiful. The charming Side-lined Emerald ( Mixocera latilineata ) was a joy to behold, and ...

It's a rainy and overcast day in Cairns today. On days like this, butterflies tend to be less active. I will therefore take some time to stay indoors and keep writing about my continuing journey into the world of moths and butterflies. What do butterflies do when it rains? What secret and intimate moments are we missing of their lives? After all, the amount of time we spend observing a butterfly is but a minute fraction of its entire life cycle, from egg to adult (the same can be said about birds - and, come to think of it, most living things). This is partly what gives me the thrill of observing, photographing and identifying these creatures: it's a special moment in time. Allow me to bring you back to Woolgoolga, coastal New South Wales, in early 2022. Living in a small town like Woolgoolga offered great benefits to me as a birder and naturalist, mostly due to the proximity and ease of access to pristine natural places. As I discussed in the previous entry, my passion for bir...

Birds were my entry point into the natural world. I remember being fascinated by birds as a child, and spending countless hours both in the field looking for them, and at home flicking through the bird guide and excitedly ticking each species off as a 'lifer'. This passion has lasted almost my whole life, and will continue to. However, over the past year or so, I have garnered an interest in the broader natural world at quite a surprising rate. I have allowed my inner child to resurface and be engulfed by fascination once more; fascination renewed. One cannot pinpoint exactly why one is interested in one thing over another thing. For me, what rapidly caught my eye were butterflies. During 2022, I started using iNaturalist to document my sightings of anything moving, big or small (mostly small), that wasn't a bird. It's a fantastic platform that allows anyone in the world to upload photos of any living thing. The algorithm will make a 'guess' as to what the organ...