The Sunday I was photographing at The Pinnacle Nature Reserve was a really overcast day, which made for moody landscape shots but meant photographing birds was tricky. The overcast day cut down the available light and if the birds were in trees or otherwise shaded, the ambient light was further cut down. The photos below are not the best but hopefully they show some of the behaviour of the really gregarious White-winged Choughs that are common but character-filled birds. I also photographed a group of Crimson Rosellas and a number of other birds. At the end of this post there are also some nighttime macro shots I took at Callum Brae Nature Reserve. I have also included some other macro shots I took around my house of various subjects. In regards to my house, I bought a trail camera with the plan to take it camping where I will leave it near the camp overnight to see what animals come around. To test it, so as to learn how to use it, I installed it in my garden over a few nights. I was really happy with how it worked. While the shots will not win plaudits for their crisp detail, they do allow for identification of what triggered the camera. So this post has a mixture of content and I hope you like all of what you see below.
Dead trees against a brooding dawn sky
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 200, 34mm, f/18 and 1.6 SEC])
Morning sun casting a shadow from a lone, dead tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/10 and 1/160 SEC])
Single dead tree against a cloudy sky
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 100, 16mm, f/14 and 0.3 SEC])
Looking down on that dead tree
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 100, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/25 SEC]
A small dam at the Pinnacle Nature Reserve reflecting the morning sun
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 100, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/240 SEC]
Water droplets on a spider web from a morning fog
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/13 SEC] two shot focus stack)
A female Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) was high in a tree near the small dam at The Pinnacle. It was not calling and seemed to be searching for food. It was looking in the young eucalyptus trees and was moving through them quickly. This bird normally feeds alone in the middle or upper parts of the tree looking for small arthropods although it may also eat berries.
Golden Whistler female high in a tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1250, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/320 SEC])
White-winged Choughs (Corcorax melanorhamphos) are just fun to watch. There may have been two groups at The Pinnacle on this morning as there seemed to be some commotion and the group split before one half went much further away. The group in the photograph went to two trees, across a dirt road from each other. The group in the photograph immediately bellow started preening, both individually and each other. Something then attracted the majority of the group and the birds left individually to fly to the nearby ground. On the ground they started looking for food, including the juvenile in the middle photograph. They later formed that grazing group in the final photograph and I was happy to catch some airborne dried grass a chough sent flying as it flicked things out of the way pursuing a feed. They were calling to each other the whole time, making a range of noises. They were swooped by at least one magpie in a pair that were in the same area. Every time the magpie swooped the choughs they seemed to detect the approaching bird and quickly edged closer where they seemed to all turn their bills upward and loudly call. Once the swoop was over they spread out again and went back to looking for food.
White-winged Choughs preening in a tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/6.3 and 1/400 SEC])
Juvenile White-winged Chough looking for food
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 330mm, f/5.6 and 1/400 SEC])
The choughs looking for food as a group
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 300mm, f/5.6 and 1/400 SEC])
There was a group of four Crimson Rosellas (Platycercus elegans) eating some seeds from the small plants in the grass. Their bright red stood out against the green, even on this overcast morning. A Magpie-lark was also wandering through the same area but neither species seemed disturbed by the other. Among the rosellas there was also at least one juvenile, easily recognised by the green plumage. These birds have a number of calls which are common around Canberra.
Crimson Rosellas feeding on plant seeds with a juvenile on the right
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1600, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/250 SEC])
I heard the Superb Fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) across the other side of a small creek but could hardly see these small birds moving through the wattle. It was only when this male flew up onto a branch that his blue plumage was an obvious focus point. Sorry, I could not get a forward shot, he only appeared briefly before he flew back into the lower branches of the shrubbery. The fact that he was still blue with winter almost here in Canberra may indicate that he was an older bird who had been active over a number of breeding seasons.
Superb Fairy-wren male in an acacia
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Australian Magpies (Cracticus tibicen) are one of the most common birds in Canberra but I still love photographing them. The sun had broken through the clouds when I came across this one. It was sitting on a low branch, so essentially at eye level with me. It was not bothered by humans and was facing the sun. Every now and then it would turn its head to the side, exposing its right eye to the sun. The magpie was also making the distinctive morning call but I could not catch it with my camera unfortunately. It then flew down to the ground where it has a brief disagreement with another magpie, which they sorted out quickly and this one continued walking around in the area. Magpies generally feed on the ground, although I have seen them catching cicadas in the air. They prefer areas that have a group of trees where they can build a next but have an adjacent open area for obtaining food.
Australian Magpie
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
The Friday night before I visited The Pinnacle Nature Reserve I went to Callum Brae Nature Reserve for some night time macro photography. I am enjoying my macro photography and wanted to visit Callum Brae to see what I could find at night. The weather was already very chilly in the early evening when I visited and there may have already been a mist forming. Being on the cusp of winter there was not much creature activity, I could not even hear frogs calling in the dam. My trip was not in vain as I did find a few subjects to photograph.
The first subject I came across was this Tasmanicosa Wolf Spider in a burrow at the northernmost dam. She was in a burrow with no lid, waiting on the edge of it. The photo has a leaf in it that gives an idea of scale.
Tasmincosa Wolf Spider female in a burrow
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)
This female Jewel Spider (Austracantha minax) had made its web over a dead-looking invasive blackberry bush. Its underside was easy to photograph as it was close to the outside while to photograph the topside I had to push the thorny branches out of the way, taking care not to disturb the spider. These spiders are also called Christmas Spiders as they are often seed in the warmer months. The female is more colourful than the male with often more prominent spikes.
Underside of a Jewel Spider
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/14 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)
Top view of the same spider
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/14 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)
This Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus diana) male was on a tree trunk at just below eye-level. It was flat on the trunk facing downward. I was able to photograph it from above but when I went to the front, the flash made it flinch. It was the first time I have had that reaction from a spider. As I was underneath this spider photographing up I was hoping that if it was too shocked it would not let go of its grip and fall straight down on to me. Despite that concern, I enjoyed photographing this spider but I could not see the underside of his abdomen where the coloration that looks like a badge gives the species its name. In both photographs the males pedipalps, its genitalia are very obvious. They are the short limbs at the front of its body, just inside its legs. The swollen ends are a clear indication of the sex of the male. The vertical shot also shows the flat nature of the spider and the way their legs have evolved to have joints that bend forward, rather than having joints that bend down like most spiders, making their legs often higher than their bodies.
Top view of the male Badge Huntsman resting on the tree trunk
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/14 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)
The action end of the spider with the two pedipalps showing the sex of the spider
I could not identify this spider, although I suspect it was an orb weaving spider. It was in its web originally that went from the underside of the branch in the photograph to a stick on the ground. Unfortunately, as I bent down to take my photograph I bumped the web and the spider crawled up onto the branch where is stayed still.
This may be a species of orb-weaving spider
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/18 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)
This Pink-margined Bug (Diemenia rubromarginata) nymph was completely stationary on a tree trunk. The photograph does not do justice to how well it blended into the trunk. Initially I thought the bug was the remains of where a small branch had been. Only a closer look showed it was a bug.
Pink-margined Bug on a tree trunk
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/16 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)
The below small creatures were not at Callum Brae, they were around my home and I thought I would include them in this post. This first one is the Common Eastern Litter Runner (Platyzosteria melanaria). It was on the wall on my shed in the daylight, not a great place to be. It did not stay long on the outside but turned to enter inside the crack. I was fascinated by its antennae while it was on the outside, they were barely still, always waving around. Cockroaches get a bad wrap but they are true survivors. This one is an Australian native and despite its common name, I could not find much about it.
Common Eastern Litter Runner on our garden shed
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 1000, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/80 SEC])
I love seeing these tiny Red Velvet Mites (Trombidiidae sp. (family)), they always seem to be moving, never wanting to be still for a moment. This one was no exception, it was climbing up some cladding, so not a good place for a red coloured morsel of food, although maybe its red colouration is a warning.
Red Velvet Mite
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 1000, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/200 SEC])
A number of female Wingless Soldier Flies (Boreoides subulatus) are around the house now. They do not bother us, they stay outside and they keep out of our way. They appear everywhere, but they do not seem aggressive. One of them was on our garden broom handle. She was trying to stay out of the sun and tried to crawl out of the light as I was turning the broom handle to get the light on her to photograph her. We eventually compromised and she just crawled onto my hand. I then put her back on the broom handle where she went to the shady side. She was probably just trying to find a mate so she could breed and lay her small white eggs somewhere. These are beneficial insects as their larvae help breakdown the leaf matter so improve the richness of the soil.
Wingless Soldier Fly female on our front step
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/200 SEC])
A close-up of a different female on a broom handle
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
I have also included some flowers I was experimenting with using my macro lens. The flowers were in my garden and I did not cut them to get these photographs, I prefer the fun of photographing things as I find them as much as possible.
Playing around and putting the sun directly behind this flower for back lighting
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/5.0 and 1/200 SEC])
Water droplets from fog on an African Daisy
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/20 SEC] four shot focus stack)
Different perspective of water droplets from fog on the same African Daisy
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/20 SEC] two shot focus stack)
As I said in the introduction, I bought myself a Trail Camera Swift Enduro with a standard lens. I thought it would be fun to take out camping to set up near the campsite to see what animals visited the area while I was asleep. Alternatively, if I was going to be in a location for a while I could set it up to monitor the local wildlife. I did not buy the 4G capable model as I did not want to be alerted when an animal appeared, I only wanted to check the photos out later. I spent a few days testing it so I knew how to work it. There were so many photographs and videos. While they are not great photos, I could see what animals were around. The night-time shot shows a Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) coming down from a tree to explore the garden. It may have been heading off to get some water. The next show shows some Sulphur-crested Cockatoos (Cacatua galerita), with the two in the centre of the photograph showing some interesting behaviour; an adult feeding a juvenile? The final photograph shows a the variety of birds that we are lucky to have visiting our garden. I really enjoyed seeing what came to our garden, especially the night shot. I am really looking forward to taking it out bush to see what I can record.
Brush-tailed Possum exploring our backyard caught on a trail camera
Swift Enduro [ISO 1600, f/2.8 and 1/15 sec]
Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, with the two in the middle involved in interesting behaviour
Swift Enduro [ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/30 sec]
Some of the birds that visited our garden when I had the trail camera running
Swift Enduro [ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/30 sec]