2022 highlights of a wilder Italian life (part 2)
Being able to explore a natural world with different, unfamiliar species is a privilege. It was a thrill to visit Italy in 2022 and experience the heat, the dry atmosphere, and the azure blue skies.
Have you ever seen a photograph like this?
While the Puffin Whisperer was was working I was out with my camera in the heat of an Italian summer. It was glorious. I dedicated some time to photographing the local butterflies. I’ve seen a lot of photographs of butterflies but never one like this. It’s not just that it’s a shot of a flying butterfly, it’s that it’s flying towards the viewer and that it’s pin sharp. The only thing that’s out of focus is the tip of one of the antennae.
![Large White Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/White-Butterfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-3-725x483.jpg)
I count that as a success.
Egg-Laying
There were many butterflies in Parco della Caffarella, which is convenient because it’s only two Metro journeys and it’s next to my favourite cafe. It was a thrill to see the females laying eggs so the next generation can delight us.
Wild Humbugs
We almost had a too-close encounter with a large female Wild Boar. It’s never a good idea to surprise a mother when her children might be vulnerable. Aren’t they cute?
![Wild Boar - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Wild-Boar-The-Hall-of-Einar-6-725x483.jpg)
European Pond Turtle
My life in the natural world is full of ‘Wow!’ moments. This day was one of them. It was a multiple ‘Wow!’ when I spotted a small black head in the water of the stream at Parco della Caffarella in Rome.
![Pond Turtle - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Pond-Turtle-The-Hall-of-Einar--725x484.jpg)
A native European Pond Turtle!
Odonata
There was a Keeled Skimmer Dragonfly, Orthetrum coerulescens, above this tiny stream in Rome. It was a female and had the distinctive black line along its back, which is why it’s called Keeled.
![Keeled Skimmer Dragonfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Dragonfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-3-725x484.jpg)
Flutterbyes
Then it was back to the parks to photograph butterflies, mainly because the birds were too sensible to come out in the middle of the day.
![Swallowtail Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Swallowtail-Butterfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-2.jpg)
![Swallowtail Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Swallowtail-Butterfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-1710.jpg)
![Blue Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Blue-Butterfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-2.jpg)
![White Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/White-Butterfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-6.jpg)
![Clouded Yellow Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Clouded-Yellow-The-Hall-of-Einar-2.jpg)
![Swallowtail Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Swallowtail-Butterfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-.jpg)
![Clouded Yellow Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Clouded-Yellow-Butterfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-3.jpg)
![Green Hairstreak Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Green-Hairstreak-Butterfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-.jpg)
![](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Butterfly-The-Hall-of-Einar-1-1.jpg)
Only mad dogs and Englishmen would do that.