Three...

……………....…..Stages



Monarch caterpillars are still munching their way through leaves on the swan plant and still morphing into eye-catching chrysalis.

With cooler weather approaching I hope they complete their cycle and emerge as magnificent butterflies.

The top photo of a younger caterpillar shows the brightness of the coloured stripes compared to the mature J shaped one as it prepares to pupate. At this stage they take on a greenish hue. Finally, the old skin is discarded and the next stage is completed and we see a perfect chrysalis. 




Thank you for the comments, stars and hearts for yesterday’s autumn colour - although these petals are this colour in each season!




Coronavirus - Day 25 of Lockdown in NZ
Total coronavirus cases across NZ is 1431
An increase of 9 new cases 
Death Toll across NZ is 12 (the first death outside of a hospital)
Number in Hospital 18 - with 3 of these in intensive care, 2 in critical condition
Recovered  912
Total number of people tested for virus across NZ  83,224 (all random testing results to date are negative)
These statistic are for the whole of NZ and announced daily at 1pm via a live broadcast on national TV.

Tomorrow, Monday 20th April, at 4pm the Government will make a lockdown announcement - will we stay at level 4 or move to level 3 and a little more flexibility?