Birds, bugs and things!
Mother nature greets all steemians with a lemon smile!
True beauty surrounds us, but sadly so many of us are so driven that we never see the gifts that are freely available to us. To behold the splendor of a little resident of nature is to start to understand how one is trapped in the wiles of life.
Have a look at all of these beauties!
Very difficult to snap the short tweet of the Malachite Songbird.
The Malachite on his throne as the king of the Sunbirds!
(Nectarinia famosa)
Here we have a Giant Carpenter Bee!
(Bee X. flavorufa)
This is a lady of another Carpenter bee species!
(Xylocopa caffra)
The male of the Carpenter bee species can hover all day long!
(Xylocopa caffra)
Here is a closer look at him in flight!
All that I know is that this little guy is beautiful!
A honey bee on our Indian Hawthorn flower!
Here's another honey bee at work!
And a late afternoon shot, as the bees work from dawn to dusk!
A Citrus Swallowtail Papillon (Butterfly) coming in to land!
(Papilio demodocus)
What a lovely sight at his landing and not all swallowtail species have long tails!
Life consistS of the small things, as only when one appreciates them can the bigger things be fully understood. An atom for instance forms the core of life and it's so small that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. Neither can the air particles be seen that we breath in every day. Yet without them we cannot live. Millions of molecules evolve around us daily and it is all about this thing that we call life.
Why then do we ignore the tiny things that we can see? Why do we bluster through life from one crisis to another with only a few light moments in between. Like a ship with no anchor we bob about up and down in a moody ocean. Up and down we go from highs to lows.
Nature teaches us how to live a fruitful life. At first, she looks after all of her own. Nobody is rejected and everyone is fed.
Every living being in nature has a purpose and it all works together to form the whole. Severe storms are endured and afterwards over time she repairs herself. She even reclaims the empires that man has constructed in her and all that she asks is for mankind to love her.
But we reject her, rape her by tearing the ground open and we destroy her forests and her oceans.
We even poison her with chemicals and plastics.
How long can this endure?
I am reminded of an old saying; "Stop and smell the roses" This is indeed solid advice.
We hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and thank you for visiting @papilloncharity
Note: Specie names taken from the books;
Birds: "Roberts Bird Guide"
ISBN 9780620383134
Bugs:"Field guide to insects of South Africa"
ISBN 9781770070615
Butterflies:"Gardening for Butterflies"
ISBN 9781775841241
All photos and wording is my own!
Team South Africa banner designed by @bearone
Stunning pictures! I especially appreciate the bee in flight. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, the flying ones are the most difficult to get, but it can be done. Glad that you liked the post.
Blessings!
Amazed at your knowledge of nature. Be blessed always 🙏
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Thank you my dear friend.
Apologies for the late reply, but busy with charity work here,
Blessings!
Apologies not needed. You are doing a great job all day long. Bless your heart 💐
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Thank you for understanding and for your kindness my friend!
Blessings!
You're so sweet and so humble. Bless you 🙏💐
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(and I dunno this saying, but I always stop to smell the roses. I know its a right thing to do).
we have different species here. even the bees look different on your pics. i like especially this full cask :P
amazing shots of twitchy Malachite Songbird -- 1st one I watched for a good minute, it really looks like he was wearing a hat! :P the occasional leave provides a funny feeling to the image.
Haha, yes the leaf gives him a funny appearance and I didn't even notice it my friend.
You have a very sharp eye to see it.
As for the Carpenter bees, we have many different kinds of bees here in South Africa and I think you guys also have the Honey Bee.
Blessings!
its just a 'fresh eye', i think..
Okay, "fresh eye" it is then my friend Lol
Blessings!
Simply gorgeous and fantastic shots of some beautiful species!
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Apologies for the late reply my friend.
Thank you and I am so glad that you liked it.
Blessings!
Nature is really lovely and you managed to capture that beauty very well
I love this post and the beautiful pics🌸😊
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Goes to show something sour can still make one smile like the lemon :) and that first bird shot loosk like it is wearing a leaf hat, and all the other shots are wonderful
Hahaha, they say that when somebody gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Someone else also mentioned the leaf hat and it's the first that I saw it. You are both right.
Glad that you liked the shots JJ.
Blessings!
It’s funny how we can miss spotting something in our own photos but once someone mentions it it then stands out for us 😎
So true my friend and I quite enjoy it.
Blessings!
Me to it’s like a bonus 😎👍😎
Thank you for drawing our attention to the beauty that surrounds us! And oh what beauty you have there in South Africa!
It is a shame that more people don't appreciate these gifts of Mother Nature and continue to abuse her!
I feel very blessed to be able to live in the abundance of her forests giving me food and shelter and oh, the wonders!
Lovely captures!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you and we are of the same heart and mind my friend.
I promote nature at every opportunity and few have already become more interested in nature.
Everyone is not as blessed as us.
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These small things are all well photographed Stephen, some of us float through life never noticing the small things.
Mentioning small (not quite that small) I noticed two crested barbets on the bird feeder, in my haste to check they flew away, really hoping they did not go far since I have never seen them here at the coast before.
Have a wonderful day.
Put out fruit for the Barbets Lady Joan and they will be back. We used to feed them with big chunks of Pawpaw.
Thank you and glad that you liked the photos.
Blessings!
Barbets have generally made a come back this year we have the black collared, the thick billed and now I have seen the crested barbet, something must be attracting them into the garden with 2 of my large trees and 2 bushes carrying berries at the moment.
As for the pawpaw I put out the skins with some fruit over our back wall where the sugarcane has grown along the verge giving them protection, they may be living in there.
Always enjoy photography, makes my day visiting everyone I am able to connect with.
Great and if they are in there then they will come for the pawpaw Lady Joan. We used to buy the smaller Papino's and we simply cut them in halve and laid them on the grass neat a tree in the garden.
It got so that if there were no fruit the Barbets would come to sit in the tree and call us. We called the one "Smiley", as he would dance from leg to leg whilst calling me.
I hope you find out what's drawing them and that you will get some great shots of them!
Blessings!
We used to put fruit out, sadly with numbers growing with Vervet monkey troops we have had to stop since it was attracting them.
Now fruit pieces go down to the bottom of the garden where I see most of the barbets under the large trees.
Cool idea and at the same time you will be able to get good shots of them my friend.
Blessings!