Saw this leaf from a distance and just had to go investigate.
Turns out it was being used by an Orb Weaver Spider. It looks like she has gone down to the ground, picked up the leaf and attached it to a thread of web in order to use the leaf as an anchor for her main web which was a couple of metres up above. I tried to take some shots of the spider, but it's 8pm and the light isn't any good for macro shots. Isn't she clever though?
Walking through the garden at this time of night is magical. The busy hum of the insects have died down, but all the spiders are out (including the Jewel/Christmas spiders) everywhere quietly but busily making their webs for the night. As I walked I spotted a Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on our Buddleia. We get a lot of Wanderer butterflies but this is the first time I've seen a Monarch. The lighting was poor, hence the blurriness, but here is the shot I managed to get.
Will try for some shots of the Jewel Spiders tomorrow.
3 comments:
You know, I saw some monarch butterflies for the first time in the swan valley a month back.
Ive never seen one here before : )
Aren't they beautiful? - seem more shy than the usual ones, but ever so elegant.
I found a wounded half dead one in a carpark in the valley, so I put it in a container in mums boot. Unfortunately by the time we got back Id forgotten about it. Was very dry 2 weeks later when we remembered. oOps.I think mum still has it.
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