Macleays swallowtail (Graphium macleayanus) on Mt Donaldson in Tasmania’s Tarkine region. Tasmania’s only swallowtail butterfly apparently.

The Macleays Swallowtail atop Mt Donaldson in Tasmania’s Tarkine region a couple of weeks ago

The Macleays Swallowtail atop Mt Donaldson in Tasmania’s Tarkine region a couple of weeks ago

When I first visited the Tarkine many years ago I remember a nice little green butterfly flitting around and even spending some time on my hat as we camped in some random spot off the road. I don’t seem to have taken many (any?) shots of it so when I saw some on Mt Donaldson recently I thought I would rectify that!

The little Macleays Swallowtail enjoying the flowering season atop Mt Donaldson.

Where’s Macleay? Macleays Swallowtail and the Pieman River from Mt Donaldson.

I didn’t hold high hopes for capturing such a flighty little thing with the notoriously pedestrian Pentax auto focus system but was pleasantly surprised to find most shots were quite good. Of course I have done a lot of cropping on these shots but I dont’t imagine selling many of these as giant framed prints, this was just one of those moments I was keen to capture for myself – and you too of course, dear reader 🙂

Another shot of the little fella with the Tarkine mountains as a backdrop. Macleays Swallowtail, Mt Donaldson.

Another one similar to the previous shot

Composite of three shots taken in fairly quick succession. I don’t know why I didnt do continuous shooting all the way but three will do 🙂

For the record I used Pentax’s great TAv mode and selected a super fast shutter (1/8000 second for most of the shots) at f8. In TAv mode, ISO becomes variable but the bright mid afternoon light kept the ISO at reasonable levels.