Zebra Swallowtail butterfly (Eurytides marcellus)
Spring’s acceleration has leveled off as the solstice approaches. Trees are all in full leaf, and it’s looking like a potential bumper crop year for apples and pears. The hay has been cut, dried and baled on nearby farms and the sheep are ready for shearing. Most grazing meadows still have lush pockets of green but are rapidly turning straw gold, the earth hardening underfoot. The summer season is in full swing in West Sonoma, with boats atop cars and trucks on the roads, weaving their way to the waterways around sporadic swarms of brightly jersey-ed cyclists.
sheep are ready for shearing about the same time the hay is cut and baled
Around the Wowhaus compound, the Salt Marsh caterpillars are a common sight, alongside a host of butterflies like the Swallowtail (at top)
While cycling the Bohemian Highway, I spotted this peacock, a now familiar anomaly.