Meet the Parents… Hide and Seek… Pesticide… Summer Heat…take your pick!

The best time for bird photography is between 7 and 9 in the morning. The birds are plentiful and the light is adequate. As the day progresses and the temperature rises it becomes increasingly uncomfortable. Both for the birder as well as the birdee!

But there are no hard and fast rules in Nature. Like this one afternoon in May. It was blisteringly hot and any living creature worth it’s salt had already headed for shelter. Including yours truly.

The only exception were a pair of Oriental Magpie Robin parents who very obviously had a couple of insatiable chicks somewhere in the vicinity.

Having located a treasure trove of tiny caterpillars  in the grass just outside the backdoor they’d perch on the hibiscus at the edge of the lawn, scan the area for movement and then fly down to claim the booty.

As a photographer I couldn’t have been more ideally situated. All I needed to do was set up the camera and tripod just inside the door. The house became my hide and from the relative cool of my sitting room I had a great afternoon snapping the busy parents!

On reviewing the images the caterpillars appeared familiar and looking back I am almost certain that they were those of the ‘Plains Cupid’ butterfly that were destroying my cycas plants. In a previous blog (this is the link) I was struggling with the decision on whether to spray the plant with insecticide and destroy the butterflies or whether to allow Mother Nature to take it’s course even if it meant sacrificing my plants. Today it looked like She came up with a third and as far as I was concerned, more favourable, option!