Last day of January so last chance to find some things for this month.
Part of the reason I visited these parks along the Yarra River (in Doncaster and Templestowe)
was for a particular butterfly.
Unfortunately I only saw the butterfly briefly but saw some other animals of note.
Firstly I saw many of the distinctively colored Orange Threadtail damselfly, Nososticta solida.
There was a section along the path where I saw many of these.
Unfortunately It was also frequented by cyclists and joggers,
so just as I got close to the insects with my camera someone comes rushing past and chases them away.
I also got many unusual looks as I was pointing my camera at, seemingly to them, nothing.
Back at the car park for lunch a family of Magpies greeted me.
The adults stayed back but the young ones came quite close.
The bravest of them all was the one that stood on my foot,
but it had to get close as otherwise a less brave one would try to pull out its wing feathers.
After lunch I went over the other side of the road and saw quite a few Common Shutwing dragonflies,
Cordulephya pygmaea, but only on one tree.
There were eight at once on a hanging piece of bark no more than a metre apart.
They are regarded as a late summer and early autumn species.
