whale talker

I have some nice pics to share for this post. I took my camera down to the beach again yesterday just in case there might be a good shot and I was not disappointed. Even before I left the trailer I spotted a butterfly that I thought might be the “Mariposa de la Muerte”, in Spanish The Butterfly of Death. In English it is called The Black Witch Moth. Bad rep for a large beautiful black/brown moth that passes through Baja on its annual migration. They are supposed to be coming through right about now. The bad rep comes from the Christian element but the Aztecs believed it was a good omen. I’m going with The Aztecs! Anyway, I got a shot of it but it is not a Mariposa de la Muerte, and frankly I am once again at a loss to identify it. I am sure my old friend and colleague Doug Puckering would be able to do it in a snap. He received his Masters in Entomology and loved to talk about the insect world. Who doesn’t love a butterfly?



A bit later and down the beach I saw a large white bird near the reef so I began walking over to it. It didn’t let me very close but a 300mm lens does wonders.



This is a Great Egret and is common here pretty much year round but it is the first that I have seen this year. Birds in flight have always fascinated me and even more so now that we have been able to conclude through DNA studies (and some great fossils) that the birds did indeed evolve from The Dinosaurs. That is so very outstanding to contemplate when looking at a bird…no?! Therefore I always take a bird in flight photo if I can get one, so here is the Egret avoiding me.



Then I noticed a butterfly coming down the beach. This one was big and appeared dark as it was coming at me from the sun. I got some nice shots of it. Check out the shadows on the rocks….so cool!





This by the way is a Giant Swallowtail butterfly. I am sure I will see a de la Muerte at some point, just hope I have my camera.

In the afternoon we received some nice mellow rainfall, so tropical, so utterly sensual.