Yesterday I was clearing out my hard drive and stumbled upon this which I had been put off using because of a messy and distracting forest floor with lots of fallen branches. I have rescued in from the virtual bin today , by using only the upper portion - hence the image title. A shot from my local woodland, Exmoor, UK.

Sony A7R using :- f/11,98mm, 0.4 seconds at ISO 64

MALABAR BANDED PEACOCK

Papilio budha

The butterfly lays egg on the Zanthoxylum rhetsa, that too on the upper canopy leaves of large trees

a few eggs were sighted all of them on upperside tips of matured leaves,at 20-25 ft height one of the eggs hatched and the egg larva didnt survive

they usually seen laying eggs between 8:30 and 11 AM

A couple of second instar larvae were found on the uppercanopy resting on top of matured leaves basking in broad sunlight,one of them survived

a parasitised pupa was also sighted very close to canopy

the caterpillars were fed with matured leaves,the intake per day rate was very low and took more than 3 weeks to pupate from second instar

the first photograph belongs to the egg and egg caterpillars,all other photos are of a separate

caterpillar beginning from second instar

the total period from egg to butterfly could be estimated as 45-50 days

when emerged the blue band was orange in colour! and gradually changed colour from both ends of the band, see mosaic picture

and this rearing was one of the toughest I have faced!

I was waiting for the Kingfisher to come out from the dam area sitting on a concrete slab. I heard some chirping from behind and here was the female Northern Parula.

She was quite a distance away -- but this is totally different from shorebird photography! Can't lay on the ground!

Please be advised that MY images are fully protected by US Copyright Law. The images may not be downloaded for personal, commercial or educational use, copied to blogs, personal websites, used as wallpaper, screensavers, etc. If you would like to use an image, you MUST contact ME to obtain written permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining written permission.

Up the upper canopy, view from the Ski lift at a considerable altitude, it was only during the sun set did you feel the considerable change in temperature

Hidden in back country forest outside Healdsburg CA is a magical treehouse Triacontahedron crystal ship floating in the air. #o2treehouse #healdsburg #treehouse #play structure #moderntreehouse #nature #geodesic #geometric #sacredgeometry #mulitlevel #birdwatching ##reusedmaterials #naturaliving #organic #uppercanopy #lovelife

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wildtreewoodworks: radical

jayneoftheforest: @beerdidtrev this account! Inspiration!