Photographed just now with the Nikon D3000, on auto.
red-spotted jezebel on the bottlebrush in my yard
mostly black-and-white on the upper wings, spanning up to 7cm
the colours look like they are drawn on
I’ve seen just the one pair visiting the blossoms
I was taking photos from a distance when I begged it to come down and pose for me awhile – and it did! I read (later) that males have grey forewings, the females cream.
I saw a snake this morning, beyond the house next door. Sunning itself, it looked to be uncoiling but stopped when it saw me see it. I did not linger for a photograph. Fortunately, Vika did not see it – she might have rushed it. Probably an adult brown snake, the common species around here. No more walking about in the dark, for me, until winter!
Do have a good day. I better get back to my revision. 🙂
Christine R 
What an absolutely beautiful creature. Such a lucky capture. Remember to wear the hob-nailed boots and thump around when you go walking now it’s warming up.
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I can’t believe how many butterflies I’m getting here! We have the white cabbage moth, too, the little orange skipper is back and I took some photos of the silvery blue grass moth the other day – and the grapevine moth is too fast for me so far (the one with the orange furry underbelly and legs). Now I wish I had taken a picture of the snake. It was pretty in a deadly charming way – laying there in the yellowed grass.
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It is amazing! I have never seen a butterfly with that coloring before.
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This is only the second time for me. When they fly, you only see white with black edges. This pair are quite big too. Their dark grey bodies are really furry and shows better in my old photos from last year.
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Butterflies are so interesting. A few years ago in my garden I found one with blue wings, had never seen before. Great photos!
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Thanks Christine. We get a little bluey purple one – the common blue grass butterfly – and when I took photos earlier in the year it turned out a beautiful metallic silver blue on the wings.
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Hope the revising is going well – and nice name for this butterfly!
And wow to the snake –
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I’m up to week 5 in Holly Lisle’s revision course and it’s exciting to know my book is going to be better even with what I’ve done so far. I love the Jezebel name, too. The snake was actually beautiful and sleek and I should have whipped the phone out for a quick photo. Didn’t want to loiter in case it thought us threatening.
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The course sounds good – how many weeks is it in total – and is your book a novel?
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It goes for five months, but I got a bonus 7-day crash revision which I’ll need apply with what I’ve learned, so far, to my novel before its January release. ‘Taniel’ is the first of a fantasy series, tending towards fantasy romance and will be 80,000 – 90,000 words. Thanks for asking. 🙂
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Yowza- good length – and I heard that is what folks prefer with fantasy and fiction – a good length!
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It was going to be longer but when the draft got to 110,000 words I began to wonder about print-on-demand costs when I offer a print version. I decided to begin the story sooner, since it took a romantic bent, to when boy meets girl, and then I had a natural splitting point for the shorter book so wrote a new ending or two.
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Good thinking 😉
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What a beauty! Great pics. 🙂
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Thanks Sue. I was lucky it came down lower in the shrub for me. I would be hard-pressed to choose a favourite, but this would be up there!
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The butterfly looks unreal, like a painting someone made. Awesome. Thanks for sharing, Christine. I’ve never seen anything like this. ❤ ❤ ❤
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I was gobsmacked the first time I saw one – last year, I think. I’ve been living with my eyes closed for most of my 61 years!
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Glad you captured that beauty.
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