Porters Pass Fauna

The moon and mountain flax

Dark coloured cicada, the most common that I saw. It had a sharp intermittent call.

A brilliant green cicada that really stood out.

A green grasshopper

A well camouflaged grasshopper

A fine striped grasshopper

A hairy grasshopper

Orbweb spider

Another orbweb spider. Abdomen only. The thorax is tucked under.

Porters Pass

Porters Pass is on Highway 73, The Great Alpine Highway. The elevation is 1000 metres. These are some of the natives I found at the roadside.

Celmisia spectabilis, the cotton daisy

Acaena, bidibid. The blue scraps are fallen borage flowers.

Copper Butterfly. The blue on the upper wing suggests that it is a male boulder copper,  Boldenaria boldenarum

This is the rare coral broom, ‪Carmichaelia crassicaulis‬. Unfortunately I was too late to see the colour of the flowers. Here they are dying. The plant is enclosed for protection.

An unknown green beetle. It was about 10mm long

Harebells, Wahlenbergia albomarginata. Such tiny delicate plants growing on the bare ground exposed to all the elements.

White Gentian, Gentiana

Early This Morning

Mount Torlesse on an early summer morning

Dalethorp Road as the sun rises

Fledgling thrush that is still being fed by its parents, growing fat on my fruit

Wind in the Barley

Castle Hill Peak

Castle Hill Peak is the highest in the Torlesse Range. Here the summit is obscured by snowcloud. The mountain is named after a farm on the western side. This view is from the east. On the right-hand side is The Gap, which is the distinguishing feature of the range as seen from the Canterbury Plains.

Unusual Ladybird

I found this strange ladybird on the Angelica flowers. It was the same size and shape as the common two-spot ladybird.

Moods of Mount Torlesse

Three photos I took of Mount Torlesse this morning. A rosy sunrise, A bright frosty morning, and then a nor'wester storm.

6.50 am

7.32 am

9.55 am