Blow me down.....

.....with a feather. Well, you could've today.

This stunning little butterfly is a Small Grass Yellow, (Eurema smilax) a migratory species from the North of the State and not at all common around Adelaide.

I told you this was a special year!!

Apparently it will breed if it finds senna plants - so you can guess what we'll be planting very soon.

We were very busy: the Willunga Farmers' Market, followed by a couple of open gardens today, Tickle Tank at Mt. Barker, and the second at Crafers West. Both special places in their own unique way. And the Hills are looking absolutely stunning in the bright sunshine, with plenty of lush green growth, and flowers by the million.

But I couldn't go past my lovely little yellow butterfly - I was so excited to see it.

Egg yolk yellow

Here's some info for those scientifically minded

This butterfly belongs to a large group of small yellow butterflies that occur worldwide throughout the tropics. The Small Grass-yellow is tolerant of colder climes and is the only yellow that regularly ventures into the temperate latitudes of Australia. However, it is unable to survive the winter in these areas.

It is a strong migrant, and every spring, numbers of these butterflies will fly south from northern breeding grounds helped by the hot northerly winds that occur at that time. During these migrations they will stop for nothing except nightfall or colder weather, but once stopped in an area they will mope around, feeding from flowers or look for their larval hostplants. Once the hot winds start again, then off they will fly with the wind to whichever direction the wind is blowing.

They sometimes fly over the sea reaching islands adjacent to Australia. Females are both gravid and fertile during these migrations, but rarely stop to lay eggs on hostplant if they happen upon them. The numbers in these migrations are usually small (compared to the Caper White) and within southern settled areas only a few are seen to cross a line of site within the hour during peak periods, although farther north in open pastoral areas during one spring migration, about 80 butterflies were reported to pass a line of site during a period of one hour. In the past, these butterflies in the inland breeding areas of Australia could sometimes occur in the thousands.

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