Butterflies!

Butterflies, so many butterflies! Every time I walk over the hill to Brown Bay they burst forth from the foliage. I saw one big black one the locals call a bat moth, but most measure about 2” across the wingspan, about the size of the white cabbage moths (really butterflies) so common in the states. Here, the most numerous species looks almost like those cabbage moths and I'm sure I see a thousand or more on each walk. I also come across a few groups of a half-dozen tiger-stripped species, often mixing with the white ones, but the white ones are the main show: hitting me in the face as I walk, easily caught in a one-hand grab. I don't know what has caused this enormous population explosion, but perhaps it has something to do with the several-month drought that just broke in October.

Found dying on the trail

When I arrived here two years ago, I noticed a species of something that appeared to be a milkweed shrub and, on closer inspection, found a monarch caterpillar upon it. No one else here seems to know about the monarchs and I haven't looked much since until last Friday, when I altered my path to walk past a milkweed. There, hanging from a leaf, was the first monarch chrysalis I have ever seen in the wild. And, nearby, a caterpillar busily ate its way toward its own oblivion and rebirth.

Very cool.

Good night, everyone. I hope that you find wonders in your days.