Today it’s King’s Day in the Netherlands, a day with many special events in public spaces to celebrate the birthday of the King. Every year the King is visiting towns and cities on his birthday, this year ‘the honour’ goes to Tilburg and my thoughts goes to all my colleagues who are working today!
Today it’s also the birthday of a friend who likes butterflies as much as I do….I did my very best to find a Provence Orange-tip but unfortunately, I only saw one ‘common’ Orange-tip. Instead of the yellow one I post the most orange one and wish you all a happy King’s & Birth Day!
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Last Saturday evening I arrived to the south of France and during my first inspection of one of the wild meadows, I found a resting Green-underside Blue….what a nice species to start the holiday with! The next day I found out that I was arrived in Nature Walhalla. First, it turned out that the Green-underside Blue is a very common butterfly here. Secondly, I met a wild turtle….actually she scared me when I heard her between the foliage….never met a wild land turtle before. Thirdly, a lot of tree frogs are living near the accommodation and every evening they are giving a concert. Fourthly, some little snakes are living around the accommodation too. Fifthly….in two days’time I photographed so many butterflies that I can’t choose one for this blog so I post one of the two snakes I found on day one.
The Orange-tip is probably one of the most photographed butterfly species in the Netherlands as they are very easy to find in rest on one of their larval foodplants. Next to it the Orange-tip is one of the first butterflies after the winter season and although I have a lot of photos of this species, I can not withstand the desire to search for them. Last year I said goodbye to 'my' area which I visited for almost 20 years as too many people were asking what I was doing. I found a new area with a lot of Cuckoo flowers and Orange-tips near water where I can use the colours and reflections in the water of the setting sun.
What a fantastic and energizing weather today! The thermometer showed almost 24 degrees and the amount of butterflies was amazing! An egg lying Comma-Butterfly, a lot of Brimstones, Green-veined Whites, Small Whites, Speckled Woods, Holly Blues and a fresh Map Butterfly. But, my day started with a female Orange-tip before sunrise and after sunrise I waited a long, a very long time before she opened her wings. But, I wanted her with open wings as I have too much images of this species with closed wings. When she finally opened her wings I created some shadow over her and fortunately she did not fly away immediately.
Like three years ago they are early again....the Orange-tips. On March 30th I saw the first ones during a one day trip to France. This male I found last Sunday April 2nd when I visted the area 'de Mortelen' together with two friends. The original mission were Wood Anemones but we couldn't resist a field with Cuckoo flowers and after we found two male Orange-tips we skipped our mission. Due to the fog the sun was blurry and she needed her time to break through. By the time the fog was gone we found a perfect terrace to enjoy the sun, the cappuccino and the passing butterflies.
It's always a special feeling photographing the first butterfly of the year and this year the honour goes to the Holly Blue. After 227 days the two chrysalises (see my blog 'Dutch Chameleon' from August 2016) emerged without noticing it. On facebook I read that a friend had seen the first Holly Blues so I looked into my box outside and there they were.....two freshly emerged butterflies. The next morning, after a short photosession, they both flew into my garden.
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Jibt dir dit Leben mal een Buff, denn weene keene Träne. Lach Dir'n Ast und setz Dir druff und baumle mit de Beene.
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