Butterflies galore!
I began recording butterflies at home (Brazil) in April 2019, which was an incredibly good time to start observing them. It's Autumn here, but the Mexican sunflowers (which I had planted for the seeds that attracted psittacids and other birds) were in full bloom. Every morning I would stand in front of them and photograph butterflies, bees, bumblebees, wasps, moths, and any other life form that showed up. From then on, photographing Lepidoptera became second nature. I had planted a great many species to attract hummingbirds and bees, and of course many also attracted butterflies. A few weeks later, when it cooled down, the butterflies all but vanished. But Autumn it's a great time of year for birds, so I kept busy and happy.
In September, when Spring arrived, I expected lots of butterflies. There weren't many, and this sad situation dragged on through most of 2020. The Mexican sunflowers bloomed in April and nothing much happened. I was sorely disappointed and wondered what was amiss. I live in a blessed corner of Brazil, with native forest right behind me and a garden that I changed drastically from what it was (grass is a waste of space - in went the fruit trees and flowering bushes, and flowering weeds stay), so I couldn't comprehend it.
Came January 2021, me in pandemic isolation for ten months in my little corner, and things began to pick up. I found a patch of vegetation in another part of the garden where there are many butterflies. I've been spending time there every single day, and not one goes by in which I don't come back with at least one new species for my list - and many days there are multiple discoveries. Autumn has begun but it's still hot and sunny outside. I'm now waiting for the Mexican sunflowers to bloom!
