• Gulf fritillary / Passion butterfly

• Mariposa Espejitos / Pasionaria motas blancas

A beautiful butterfly perched on Leptospermum.

Scientific classification

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Arthropoda

Class:Insecta

Order:Lepidoptera

Family:Nymphalidae

Tribe:Heliconiini

Genus:Agraulis

Species:A. vanillae

Solymar, Canelones, Uruguay

• Gulf fritillary / Passion butterfly

• Mariposa Espejitos / Pasionaria motas blancas

A beautiful butterfly perched on Leptospermum.

Scientific classification

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Arthropoda

Class:Insecta

Order:Lepidoptera

Family:Nymphalidae

Tribe:Heliconiini

Genus:Agraulis

Species:A. vanillae

Solymar, Canelones, Uruguay

Saint Christopher's Cathedral, Manuka, Canberra, ACT.

A 45 minute uphill walk from my house brings you to the top of Moonshine Hill. The narrow road levels off for 5 minutes then drops off down into the Moonshine Valley on the other side. The farm hills to the left peak at 431 metres or 1400 feet. The image is taken around midday in low winter sun.

A New Zealand robin / toutouwai keeps an eye on us near the start of the Kepler Track, a three day walk over mountains, we did the first 30 minutes of. Speaking of 30 minutes, the male robin will serenade the female for up to 30 minutes to get her attention! How many men would try that ? :)

'...and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances...' Captured on an alley during an evening walk in Manuka, ACT.

Manuka & Pohutukawa trees on the beach, completely deserted location except for the honey bees. Aotea Island N.Z.

the trees stretch upward

a long path toward the light

I walk in their shade

a reprise from my forest equinox series

I wasn't sure about this one... it grew over time.

Wish you a good journeys this week :-)

It has been a pleasure Cropping yesterdays image to suit Macro Mondays size constraints............A few delicious mouthfulls and a Perfect Macro for today, Bread Butter and Manuka Honey.

The hardy trees of Te waewae have to stick together to survive the southern ocean winds. ( Manuka/Kanuka ?)

Leptospermum scoparium, manuka plant.

Some tiny Manuka flowers that I decided to 'artify' by adding a texture or two ....

© Dominic Scott 2021

Mānuka or kahikātoa (Leptospermum scoparium), called ‘tea tree’ by Captain Cook, is a rather variable plant ranging from flat creeping forms and small shrubs to tall trees (up to 10 m tall). Mānuka/kahikātoa is common throughout the North, South and Stewart Islands in lowland to low alpine regions up to 1800 m above sea level. It can be found in many different habitats including wetlands, river gravels and dry hillsides.

© Dominic Scott 2021

...

Take my piece of mind, and sign my name across your heart

🎧 Massive Attack // Blue Lines

Australian Botanical Garden, Mt Annan. NSW.

Please, no invitations to award groups or to those with large/animated comment codes.

Tawharanui Regional Park - 20240223-01a

Tāwharanui Regional Park is a regional park on the Tāwharanui Peninsula in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located in Rodney, east of Warkworth and north of Auckland.

The park covers 588 hectares of land at the end of the peninsula, and is owned and managed by Auckland Council. The park combines a "mainland island" sanctuary for the conservation of native plants and animals with farmland and public recreation areas. The park is mostly grazed pasture with mānuka scattered throughout and patches of coastal forest. The most significant area of coastal forest is in the central eastern part of the park where kauri and rimu dominate the ridges, with pūriri, taraire, tawa and, less often, rewarewa and nīkau in the valleys. Elsewhere there are tōtara, kahikatea, pōhutukawa, cabbage trees, karaka and New Zealand flax.

A predator-proof fence was constructed in the park, making the peninsula a haven for native bird species. Sixteen species of native land birds and 15 species of native coastal birds have been recorded in the park. Wetland birds include the Australasian bittern, spotless crake and fernbird. Coastal birds include the New Zealand dotterel, blue reef heron and variable oystercatcher. (Wikipedia)

---------------

We came to this park at night to look for kiwis. It was quite something to go through the huge gates of the predator-proof fence and then to walk the main trail in the gloom of the fog-shrouded moon. Fabulous experience culminating in the finding of five kiwis.

Tawharanui Regional Park, Northland, New Zealand. February 2024.

Roadrunner Birding Tours.

Leptospermum scoparium

• Gulf fritillary / Passion butterfly

• Mariposa Espejitos / Pasionaria motas blancas

A beautiful butterfly perched on Leptospermum.

Scientific classification

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Arthropoda

Class:Insecta

Order:Lepidoptera

Family:Nymphalidae

Tribe:Heliconiini

Genus:Agraulis

Species:A. vanillae

Solymar, Canelones, Uruguay

Another from a month ago. This small stand of trees standing by themselves in the middle of the paddock were too much to resist photo wise:-)

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Only 4 more weeks of my cast now :-)

Manuka tree forest in the evening light , new years eve

Heaphy Track environment near to James Mackay Hut

on a sunny afternoon...

The Manuka tree behind me giving me a great little headdress. I like experimenting with where the light comes from and how shadow can tell the story too.

These are my first ever prescription sunglasses which are 16 years old. They had a ~6 year break while my eye sight was worse. Now my distance vision has improved I can wear them again which is great. Even if the copper inside the arms has gone an amazing green that some would see as gross I rather like it. I'm glad I chose these ones, the shop assistant had tried to get me to buy the more fashionable ones.

Tea tree blossoms kissed by the last of the sun

Taken yesterday when we walked a track beside a local river.

View On Black

While walking along the Te Waihou Walkway, two Riroriro's appeared in front of us and started fighting in the manuka. I managed a couple of quick shots while this one was in the open.

We have one little Manuka bush in our South Wales garden, not enough to make honey but still enjoyed by us and the bees. Manuka honey has antibacterial and antiviral properties. Good for sore throats, chest infections and wounds

Thought that a long exposure and mono would reflect the mood at Gore Bay today. No rain, so that was a bonus as shortly hereafter we set out for our Manuka Bay walk.

I got pretty close to the log to try and draw the eye in to that lovely detail and then on to the sky.

I was mesmerised by the layers of rolling hills on the distance

It is cultivated in New Zealand for mānuka honey, produced when honeybees gather the nectar from its flowers, and for the pharmaceutical industry.

Leptospermum scoparium, commonly called mānuka, manuka, manuka myrtle,[1] New Zealand teatree,[1] broom tea-tree,[2] or just tea tree, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to Australia and New Zealand.

A friendly and distinctive native bird.

Tāpapakanga Regional Park - Auckland.

Shadows in Manuka

I followed Jeremy a teeny tiny stick insect as he walked around on the oak tree. He stopped for a wee yoga move at the end of this leaf and I thought he looked pretty awesome up there and with the little bits of cloud and some sun peeking through the manuka. Aaaah I love summer in the garden with my little insecty friends.

To my fabulous flickr friends, thanks heaps for your recent comments and faves. My sincere apologies I've run out of time to reply to recent comments but hope to get back to you when I'm back from Luminate festival mid Feb. Have fun out there everyone & happy snapping! Best wishes x

Located in the Volcanic Zone, Central North Island of New Zealand. This geyser rises up to 20 metres (66 feet) whilst other geysers in the area rise up to 30 metres (100 feet). Steamboat Geyser within Yellowstone in the U.S. is the World's tallest active geyser reaching up to 380 feet.

Mirtaceae, Leptospermum scoparium, Manuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, broom tea-tree

Rotorua Lake

mānuka flowers´ pollen and honey contain powerful insecticides and anti-bacterial agents that can help fight intestinal worms and bacterial infections.