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Un aphorisme qui m'est salutaire « Seuls les sens peuvent guérir l'âme, tout comme l'âme seule peut guérir les sens.
Oscar Wilde
Our SoCal weather has just gotten too unpredictable. My poppies are popping, after two months with no rain, and now it's cold and raining and the poppies are drooping under the weight. Which brings me back to my Monarch Caterpillars from late last year. That was a problem too. All these guys hatched out in NOVEMBER, and made their little pupas all around the foundation of my house. The prob is: it got unseasonably hot, and then it got cold. Only one poor pupa finally produced, 2 weeks past due (in DECEMBER), and sadly was badly deformed, unable to eat or fly. I had such hope for them all, and I was just crushed as I watched them all wither away, especially the last one. I did plant more milkweed a few weeks ago, so hopefully they all get an earlier start and there will be joy again.
On the upside, there's a lot going on in this image. The caterpillars are voracious eaters, if you've never seen this. They vie aggressively for every last morsel. You can see how they're eating away, even the one guy looks like it's chewing on a stem. And there's that giant bite out of the flower bud at the lower right. It was a new and captivating experience for me to watch them.
Dans la série photographions sous la pluie:
La mante religieuse femelle
In the series Photographs in the rain:
Female praying mantis
It's not like I've never posted a Shoveler before, but it IS one of my favorite dabblers, and this guy was so close (a rarity, they always seem so shy) and so flashy. Besides, I think they'll be shoveling off in awhile.
B80 & VL353 lead the 9476 Up Maryvale paper train through Sandown Park on a gloomy Tuesday afternoon. 27/09/22.