Monarch Butterflies 2019 : Part 3

We are now in November 2019 and for Southern Hemisphere folk, that's spring. The Monarch Butterflies have been at it early and we are already into to breeding season. Starting on the 6th of November they have been turning into their beautiful selves and flying around our garden.

The weather still isn't at its optimum for their liking but increasing rapidly. Up until now* we have sent 15 on their journey. They mate like rabbits and we have dozens of eggs being laid. So many caterpillars are on the production line and dozens more in the chrysalis stage. We have taken 25 caterpillars to a neighbour to assist as the volume was getting too much to handle for the set up we have.

*As of 02/02/19

Here are some of the caterpillars chewing away nicely

A new one just hatched from the chrysalis stage

Can you see the four new arrivals?

An old, frail one is at the top and new one near the bottom

Bulls,

In the Rangitikei District of NZ (near Palmerston North) is a small town of Bulls. It was named after a settler James Bull but the name later was changed to what it is called now. The town likes to play on the name via puns. All around the town are signs where the word bull features, usually replacing the 'ble' at the end of a word. There are a few examples below.

Taranaki

On the centre west of the North Island of NZ, there is a bulge of land protruding out into the Tasman Sea. It is the Taranaki province, known for its dairy farming. On the middle of the Taranaki bulge stands a large mountain, apart from any mountain range. It is Mt Egmont and a fine sight it is, when not covered in cloud. Below are two pictures of the mountain, one from a roadside and the other taken moments later with the zoom function in operation.

 

Situated to the east of Mt Egmont is a small town of Stratford, named after the one in the UK which is famous for W. Shakespear. Many of the streets are named after people in his plays and the clock tower on the main street occasionally comes alive with Romeo and Juliet speaking to each other from windows in the structure.

Across the road from that is an area in front of the library, which features car tyre planters made to look like tea cups. I believe they were made by local students. Two are featured below.