A walk seeking the Autumn Dragonfly was unsuccessful, and other subjects were hard to come by, however persistence finally paid off. Verbena bonariensis is a garden escape that has become widely naturalised, and occurs along the local river and creek. It is not a problem and is in fact a nectar resource for butterflies and other insects, this Yellow-banded Dart was taking advantage of a plant in the shady understory.
A few Common Brown butterflies are still on the wing, and the remains of one dangling from a spider web invited a closer look. The St. Andrew’s Cross spider is often seen in its shapely orb web complete with cross shaped stabilimentum, this very large female’s web was just an untidy tangle low to the ground in tall grass.
