Bejeweled visitors at home - Part I

The tiny glimpses of nature that we get to see around the cities we live in and around our places of stay are probably the moments that we very closely relate to and cherish.

These give us all, who seem to be busy all the time or at least pretend to be so :-) a chance to break away from the monotony. A chance, to enjoy the little things around us that we are quite ignorant and oblivious of.

Early in the morning, as I step into the little balcony of mine, it all seems eerily quiet. The leaves of the plants are all drooped down and the flowers seem to be in a slumber. It feels like the plants are entering the last phase of their sleep cycle. I decided to leave them be and head back in to get on with my chores.

I come back a little later. The sun is up and bright. The plants seem to have woken up, their leaves look lively and the flowers are in bloom, ready for some chit-chat with their insect friends.

Right on cue, their insect friends start coming along. Brilliantly colored butterflies, bees, wasps, dragonflies, long-legged flies and others waft around to enjoy the bounty on offer, throwing around a shimmering display akin to beautiful, little jewels glowing in the lovely light of the sun.

I share here, a few of these bejeweled wonders that visit my home.

Common grass yellows, beautiful individuals and very bold too. At times, there are quite a few of them around, indulging in courtship displays or territorial fights perhaps. They are always lovely to observe.

The beautiful, little, zebra blues, not very common visitors though.

Red pierrots, with their dashing colors also show up from time to time and when they do, they take their time, moving from one flower to the other soaking in all the tasty treasures on offer.

Pea blue - another beautiful individual

Small-banded swift - true to its name, super fast individual. Has its full of the nectar and just zips away at the blink of an eye.

Apefly, the little restless one never seems to settle down anywhere and constantly in flight. The name, it seems, comes from the supposed resemblance of their pupa to the face of an ape.

Common baron, again, not that common to my place, though have seen them flying around. On rare occasions, they come down to rest on some leaves extending out of my balcony.

Tailed jays - brilliantly colored butterflies along with the Common jays are always flying around. On very rare occasions I get to see them settle down some place. This was one such occasion where they had come down to the road side to do some mud puddling, gathering much needed minerals and nutrients perhaps.

Great orange tips, lovely butterflies dafting around in the strong breeze. One can sense their weight as they waft along in a wavy pattern.

Beautiful varities of potter wasps also come along to enjoy the sweet offerings of the flowers alongside looking to collect material for their intricate nests.

As my little balcony buzzes with activity, it gladdens me and makes me realise that these beautiful creatures need, all but, a tiny little space to thrive. We more than owe them that.

Hope you enjoyed this post. More to come in the next instalment of this post. Until then, adios.