This swirling butterfly 'dogfight' rose up above the cabbage patch late yesterday afternoon, rising into the sky and twisting and turning, until the female (bottom left in the group) broke away and headed back to the cabbages.
Friday, August 9, 2013
Butterfly dogfight....
The cabbage patch still has plenty of small white butterflies laying eggs on the leaves, but every now and then a female will take to the air, pursued by a group of males that are eager to mate with her.
This swirling butterfly 'dogfight' rose up above the cabbage patch late yesterday afternoon, rising into the sky and twisting and turning, until the female (bottom left in the group) broke away and headed back to the cabbages.
This swirling butterfly 'dogfight' rose up above the cabbage patch late yesterday afternoon, rising into the sky and twisting and turning, until the female (bottom left in the group) broke away and headed back to the cabbages.
Amazing capture! It is so hard to get a clean shot of butterflies in flight, but getting 4 is quite an achievement. It looks like a watercolor painting, so arty too!
ReplyDeleteShe must have left in a huff :)
ReplyDeleteThis picture is the only one of five where they're all reasonably in focus, Africa. What a blessing digital photography is! In the days of silver halide film I could have never afforded the wastage rate!
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I grew some white-flowered sweet peas next to cabbages and when these butterfly dogfights swirled around the flowers it was hard to distinguish flowers from butterflies!
Hi lotus leaf, the female cabbage white buttterflies seem to be constantly harassed by over-eager males!
ReplyDelete