The Butterfly Waltz

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...