Chasing Butterflies On The 7th of Ramadan

There was a nip in the air this morning. I’d to put a jacket on cos it was freezing. The weatherman predicted that we were going to be bathed with low pressure for the rest of August. Hmm…Clouds were rolling in thick with a mixture of sunshine, showers and high winds. It was a challenge getting dressed for work.

A week of fasting just went whoosh. I’m looking forward to our breaking-fast dinner tonight. It’s beef rendang using M&S rendang sauce. I know it’s not authentic but beggars can’t be choosers. This is the first time I’m using the sauce and if it’s ok, I’ll stock up a few more bottles. It’s simmering slowly in the slow-cooker and as soon as I get home, I’m making nasi lemak using the rice cooker. I’m salivating just thinking about it. :-)

The weekend started with my usual trip to our favourite playground after work.  It was getting dark and the butterflies had already settled for the night.   Not a problem cos we were treated to hundreds of Greylags and Canada Geese falling from the sky, landing onto the lakes. You could hear them yelping and yapping noisily from a distance and touching down quite ungracefully. They must be roosting here for the night.

On Saturday, we made an early trip again and guess what. The heavens opened and luckily we were in the Baldwin Hide checking the natives out. The usual culprits were enjoying the rain and I just love the facial expression on these Greylags.  Aren’t they comical? Do you think they enjoyed the rain?

In between the showers, we made a quick dash to the Carlton Hide. The kingfisher made an appearance. As usual, I kept my eyes trained on the barn owl box and guess what I saw them. My first sighting of the barn owl in 4 years. My oh my…A pity there was so much foliage between us.

They were sitting on the platform waiting for the rain to stop. They can’t hunt when its raining. Barn owls have downy fur on their feathers which gives them the silent flight, but if it gets wet it causes them a major problem. Although it was too far to get a good photograph, I was chuffed to bits.

It was a lovely sunny day on Sunday. We went back to the reserve again and this time I brought my light-weight Panasonic. I’m having photography withdrawal symptoms and I’m very glad I had a camera with me. Just look at these beautiful Goldfinches feeding on the thistles. How I wish I can handle the D50. My arm is still not strong enough to stabilise the camera.

As we walked into the reserve, we were in butterfly heaven. They were literally floating everywhere, like scraps of coloured paper. They were also too busy feeding to notice us. We just don’t know where to point the camera. We’d a lovely afternoon chasing butterflies with our camera. Aren’t they beautiful? Babe took those fantastic macro shots.

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond.
~Irish Blessing

A butterfly did land on Babe’s shoulder but flew before I could get it to pose. Keeping fingers and toes double-crossed that the Irish blessing will come true. Babe’s half-Irish anyway…