The weather at the summit was cool. I was surprised to find 4 butterflies including a single Jezebel Nymph, one Bronze Flatwing and two Dingy Grass Skippers.
Bronze Flatwing (Netrocoryne repanda)
Dingy Grass Skipper (Toxidia peron)
Logrunners were common by call and occasionally I would see pairs as they foraged in the leaf litter. These birds were invariably in pairs with white-throated males and orange-throated females. The dig in an unusual manner and push leave out to the side.
The fruit of these Solanum were popular with the gorgeous King Parrots.
David: Your work is much improved. I've been using mine for a couple of months now and still need to work on it.... either that or need a new set of eyes. William
I saw a few Narrow-winged Pearl Whites (Elodina padusa) each day. This was a new species to me.
The following skipper was large but quite shy. After lots of study in the field guide, I think this to be an Orange Palm Dart (Cephrenes augiades). I could not see a dark tornal patch but the orange streaks along the first few veins of the upper wing were obvious. I could not get close to any of the Orange Palm Darts that I encountered so all of my shots are highly cropped.
Wompoo Fruit Dove (aka, Magnificent Fruit Dove). I think that these are one of the most beautiful of the Ptilinopus doves. This species is huge and dwarfs the Rose-crowned and Superb Fruit Doves that also live in the subtropical forests.
White-margined Grass-Darts (Ocybadistes hypomeloma) were another lifer. These were tiny skippers that were not much larger than a fly.
One of the highlights to me was seeing my first Richmond Birdwings (Ornithoptera richmondia). I only saw two of these and both were males. One of these drifted back and forth along a stream valley. I was able to watch it for about 10 minutes but it unfortunately never landed. These big butterflies are among the most colourful of the Aussie species. Males are a glistening green with gold spots and black stripes. They really are a dazzling sight.
Here are a few more habitat shots of the area.
Australian rainforests usually contain a few confiers. These are Hoop Pines (Araucaria cunninghamii). Araucaria are only found in the southern hemisphere and they look quite different to the pines of the north.
I watched platypus as it fed here at dusk.
That is it for my photos from Mt. Warning. I leave for Malaysia in two weeks so I am excited about the possibility of photographing so many species of butterflies, birds and reptiles.
Reply With Quote
