The outing of a Butterfly !

I have been looking out for Butterflies in our garden since the heavy incessant started about ten days ago. As I am used to the sites where the Butterflies go to gather nectar, I positioned myself during the dry spell in between to get a glimpse of the visiting butterflies. 

I was glad that I was present camera ready, during an ultrashort visit of the Butterfly to the front garden!

Normally a Butterfly rests on the flower or flutters over it to gather nectar!

What I noticed was an unsettled behaviour of the Butterfly flying between flowers. 

The Sunbirds had already visited the flowers earlier in the day! No wonder there was not much left for the Butterfly !

It is when one sees such sights, one gets more familiar with the various  constraints or adversity a Butterfly has to overcome !

A flower is a feeder and a Butterfly is a finder!

That thought stayed with me during the morning- to be a feeder for finders!

A mother bird is the feeder and the baby bird is the finder!

That was what I noticed yesterday in our feeding table when the mother Barbet waited with mouthful of banana chunks for the baby Barbet to come and take a portion from the bills. 

Am I conscious about my role as a feeder for the finders to receive their daily portion of encouragement! 

It is what and how I say or write or how regardfully I stay in touch with, which finders are looking for!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A Butterfly on its mission !

In between the short spell of sunshine on a rainy day, few birds and butterflies  appeared in the garden yesterday. 

This jet black butterfly, was around for a few minutes on this flower. What surprised me was its intent on gathering nectar. The sunshine time was its window of opportunity for this butterfly.

A thought that passed through my mind while watching this sight was the stressful situations that a butterfly encounters during an incessant rainy season.  

I remember going to a natural herbal garden, where there is a conservatory for Butterflies. There were plants with flowers, which the butterflies used to breed. This was covered with transparent roofing to expose the plants to sunlight. It was open on the sides. I could see the different stages of the life cycle in the foliage. 

This lepidopterarium, was a gift from a family in memory of their son, who died in a road side accident on the way back from school.  This conservatory was a place that their son used to come on holidays. One of his hobbies was sketching and drawing butterflies. They made an album of his drawings of butterfly and paid for the construction of this conservatory. 

Their son became fond of butterfly and its life cycle, ever since he heard from his mother that the flowers when pollinated would become fruits and seeds. That stimulated him to keep observing the life cycle of butterflies. 

There are some plants in our garden where butterflies breed. We avoid using insecticides although the plants become bereft of all leaves during a breeding season. These plants recover during the monsoon season and spring forth shoots and flowers, only to return to be hosts for the butterflies in the winer months. 

I felt enthused by the sighting of a butterfly today because, it is a symbol of thriving in difficult circumstances. It used the short window of the dry spell for its outing to find nectar. 

In every adverse situation, there can be a way out of the difficulties. I experienced this recently. 

This fragile Butterfly reminded me of opportunities amidst difficulties to stay well!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)