This Swallowtail Papilio machaon syriacus
I had my camera with me, but I was getting myself and the kids out of the car, so it wasn't exactly a moment I could drop everything and grab the camera. In any case, this gorgeous butterfly came fluttering really close to our car, landed for a second or two on a climbing vine right next to our car, fluttered about some more for a few seconds...but all the while moving his/her wings very gently so it was easy to see them even while in motion. In any case, I got a very good look at him/her and made sure to search for a match when I got home. I did eventually find it this morning: http://www.nature-of-oz.com/papilionidae1.htm . It's the very last butterfly featured on that page. The page says that this is a common butterfly all over Israel, but this is the first time I've ever seen it. I felt honoured that it came so close to us and gave us such a great show. :-)
-Julie
Look at this beauty I saw yesterday while doing errands...
Salvia_lover .. What a beautiful butterfly! Looks to be the Swallowtails!
Glad to read of all your sightings of the bugs and birds of Israel !! Keep 'em comin' ..
Enjoying every encounter and pic you manage to post ... - mags
Boy, me too!! Are you into native plants, too? Would not mind seeing pics of them.
Okie dokie John...I'll see what I can do fer ya :-) as YES I am really interested in native plants.
I've got a cute story to tell you regarding native plants. The most beloved is the prickly pear cactus. In fact Israeli's call themselves "prickly pears" as a nickname: thorny on the outside but very sweet on the inside ROTLFMAO! I'm honestly not sure yet about the sweet part ;-), but thorny sure hits the nail on the head ;-). (don't tell my DH I said that ROTFLMAO!)
-Julie
Okay John...I'm going to start a thread on the Photos Forum......starting with just one native plant which I have no clue what it is LOL
-Julie
Great! It will be fun.