Bright Shield Skippers (Signeta flammeata) were the most commonly encountered skipper. These are shots of females.
This Lilac Grass-Skipper (Toxidia doubledayi) was in good condition. I quite like these distinctively marked skippers.
I saw several male Barred Skippers (Dispar compacta).
This Eastern Blue-tongued Skink (Tiliqua scincoides) surprised me while I was walking through the grass near the butterfly bush. I initially thought that it was a Tiger Snake.
I headed back to butterfly bush and resivoir area again today. As before, it was a cloudy day with threatening rain but it held off while I was there. The flowers are not lasting long this year so I probably will only have another week or two to see butterflies on these shrubs.
Here is today's (28 Jan) haul.
Imperial Jezebels (Delias harpalyce) were numerous in the morning on the butterfly bush.
I also saw one on the Tea Tree flowers (Leptospermum).
A Red-spotted Jezebel (Delias aganippe) was also visiting the Tea Tree flowers.
I am not seeing as many Black Jezebels (Delias nigrina) as I did last year.
Several Yellow-spotted Jezebels (Delias nysa) were feeding from the butterfly bush flowers.
I think you probably caught all the local Delias in one day, congratulations. Does Delias argenthona reach as far south as you? Otherwise, the only other Australian Delias is D. aruna inferna, which can only be found at the northern tip of Cape York Peninsular. I don't think I have forgotten any.
Sorry for the delay in replying, Les. I am painting at the moment ... no fun at all!
Delias argenthona does reach this area but it is erratic and a non-breeder. Last year, I saw one at the Fitzroy Falls Resivoir and also others at Mt. Ainslie in Canberra. So far, I have not seen any this summer. Here is a shot from last year:
Delias aruna would be wonderful! I looked for it on my single trip up Cape York but did not see any at all.
We do have two more Jezebels. This Yellow-banded Jezebel (Delias ennia) from the Atherton Tablelands was a new one to me last November. It always stayed high so I could not take better photos.
A Red-banded ("Union Jack") (Delias mysis) Jezebel was feeding in the same tree as the Yellow-banded Jezebel. It also remained too high for decent photos.
My God, my memory is failing! Of course you also have those two.
Delias mysis is found in three subspecies, D. m. mysis down the Queensland coast, Cooktown southwards, D. m. waterhousei is found only at the extreme northern tip of Cape York, and D. m. aestiva, from the Darwin area.
You also have two subspecies of D. ennia, D. e. nigidius, on the Queensland coast south from Cairns down to approx. Townsville, and D. e. tindalii, from just above Cookstown northwards to approx. Cape Grenville.
Some of the ranges may have changed a bit since my last records, but they are as up to date as I have. Some may have now been synonymised! I have been concentrating so much on Samui and regional species that I have completely neglected the Delias.
Incidentally, my Delias website is now closed. A friend is supposed to be reopening it up under his ownership, but it is taking longer than anticipated.
For a change, we had good weather this weekend with only a little rain yesterday morning. I decided not to waste the conditions since rain is forecast for the remainder of the week. Yesterday, I returned to butterfly bush and the flowering Tea Trees at Fitzroy Falls Resivoir. After that, I went for a walk of a few hours along the eastern rim of the gorge. In general, I did not see many butterflies.
Numbers and diversity of butterflies has been low this year. I assume that this has been due to our heavy summer rain. Last week, the rains were torrential along the east coast and there are many places in flood at the moment.
I will start with habitat shots on the rim of the Fitzroy Fall gorge. I walked this with hopes of finding Eastern Iris Skippers and Silver-spotted Ochres that I encountered in this area last year. Unfortunately, I saw neither of these and in fact, was not able to take a single butterfly photo. There were a few Barred Skippers, Splendid Ochres, Common Grass-Blues, Rock Ringlets and Black Jezebels in the area but none cooperated for photos.
Fitzroy Falls is a beautiful place and always a nice place for a walk.
The main falls:
I leaned over the rail to take this shot of the falls:
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