13 January 2012

Filtering water from catchment areas - a local Wetland

Our Lake Macquarie City Council diligently protects the environment in various ways. One is by utilizing wetland pockets for filtering water from catchment areas. They are so neatly maintained by council and volunteers from a local Landcare group, and not accessible to the public.  A birds-eye view though, over the fence.






Zooming in; this is the early morning photo; I knew I had to come back later to see those water-lilies opened up though.


.. and, three and a half hours later


a sediment-barrier fence in view




Stepping sideways a little now, away from the catchment and beyond the barrier fence.  Following a pathway through the bushland; and a special find awaits!


Thanks to Don Herbison-Evans for identifying it for me; he wrote, "that is a female Papilio aegeus", see  http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/papi/aegeus.html

I'll find it easier to remember the common-name:  Orchard or Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly

20 comments:

Jan n Jer said...

Lovely set of pictures...the wetlands are so beautiful. Love the butterfly too!

Kathy said...

Lots of nice fences in a beautiful area. Spectacular waterlilies.

Jeanne said...

Such wonderful photos of the wetlands, and what an amazing butterfly! Lovely Carole

Liz said...

It looks like a lovely area, Carole!
I love the images of the water lillies. And the butterfly is gorgeous. Great capture.
Have a lovely weekend.

Leovi said...

Yes, no doubt precious photos. I really like these beautiful places.

TexWisGirl said...

you are on a posting roll today!!! :)

Brian King said...

The water lilies are beautiful, but that butterfly even more so! What a great shot!

Giga said...

Świetnie wykorzystane tereny podmokłe, to zielone i zadbane miejsce . Lilie i ich ilość - niesamowite i śliczne. Motyl jest cudownym dodatkiem do tego postu
:-).Pozdrawiam.

Well used for wetlands, a green and well maintained place. Lilies and their number - amazing and beautiful. A butterfly is a wonderful addition to this post
:-). Yours.

Laura said...

Carole, your photos are beautiful! And what a great shot of the "Orchard Butterfly". Amazing! You incorporated the "fence" them in a very creative way!

Evelyn S. said...

Oh...absolutely every one of these images is fascinating, Carole! I love to see wetlands rehabilitated...and protected by fences, if necessary. Those aren't just any old fence, either! This was a great "visit" for me, with the swallowtail "frosting on the cake."

Carletta said...

What a beautiful place!
I like how the plants in the first shot soften the iron fence and help make it less intrusive in the natural setting.

theconstantwalker said...

All I can say Carole is Wow! your timing was fantastic to capture the lilies.
A wonderful post to see..

Lesley said...

Is it your cropping, or is that one huge butterfly?!
I am so glad you went back to see the eater lilies opened - I don't think I have ever seen so many in one area that were all opened at the same time.

Carole M. said...

Lesley, as to the butterfly, I had cropped the original image to get to the reason for the photo, being the butterfly up close. In the link attached to this post it reads "It also grows into one of the largest butterflies to grace suburban gardens"

Dianne said...

What a magical sight - all those water-lilies with their faces open to the sun and perfectly captured.

"Adelaide and Beyond"

Faye said...

What a treasure you have in this environmental refuge and kudos to your city council for seeing that it's protected. I had no idea that waterlilies closed and opened every day.

Jan Castle said...

We have the same type of thing at the 'Oregon Garden'...you can check it out on-line...it is open to the public for a fee. Beautiful place! Such good use of the resources!
Paper Hugs,
Jan

Rose said...

I like the fence shots, but the butterfly captures my heart...it is so beautiful.

Dianne said...

the water lilies are so sweet
I love reading about any effort to be kind to the planet

Francisca said...

Lovely shots in the wetlands... So glad you went back for the water-lilies, Carole... among my favorite blossoms! And wow, that's one BIG butterfly... what a capture!