hot breeze down burbank
Nigella lifts her light face,
dry leaves loosening.
All summer long, the Gulf Fritillary butterflies have held me in wonder in the backyard here. First, they emerged from the dormant Passiflora vines. All summer, they flitted in great clusters all over the garden. They also dispel old ideas I had about butterflies– that they are only a spring thing.
Taken today:
Emerged today. Underneath the bowl of the bird-bath. And the withering Passiflora vines continue to crawl with caterpillars. After i shot this photo, I saw a Fritillary depositing eggs on the leaves. The egg is yellow, about the size of a pin-point. I also saw a tiny newly hatched larva, orange, maybe 1/8 inch long, about the circumference of dental floss.
