Dear All
Greetings from the sunny plains and bush of Laikipia – have been working here on insects for a week. There were a couple days of heavy unseasonal rains here (it is supposed to be the middle of the dry season, whatever that means anymore), and it seems to have produced an outburst of butterflies everywhere. There are lots of pierids and swallowtails and a few lycaenids mud-puddling at every stream edge. Attached are a couple of pictures of the frenetic activity. They all seemed to be feeding in twos and threes which made for some interesting photographs.
As I was photographing the butterflies, I was started by a loud snort and on looking up spotted a pair of klipspringer in a tree. These remarkable antelope have hooves that allow them to clamber at will up rocky faces and they live exclusively on rocky outcrops. At first I thought that I was the cause for alarm, and continued watching and photographing the butterflies.
However, the klipspringer kept up their racket and I looked back up and noticed that they were staring at something in the bush just beyond me. I will let you spot the interloper in the last picture (hint: look for the spotted form)… He paid me no heed and slunk off in a huff, probably I had interrupted his midday nap in the shade by the stream…
More from the world of bugs soon! Thanks to everyone for the kind comments…
