Capturing the image of this wasp made my day. I had seen it flying around from leaf to leaf, and I was hoping that it would settle on one for a while. Eventually it did and I was able to take some photos. To me, the thing that draws your attention is the long, white-tipped tail, which is the ovipositor for this Gasteruptiid wasp female. She will use it to penetrate the cells of solitary bees and wasps, in order to lay her egg beside the host species egg protected in the cell. Her egg, however, will hatch first allowing her offspring to feast on the egg or larvae of the host species. It seems cruel but this wasp has evolved to reproduce that way and is an example of the small world around us humans. This is my favourite photograph among the ones below because it shows the delicate beauty of this wasp and also shows the variety of animal life around us. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.
Read MoreMacrophotography of some invertebrates on the South Coast - Summer 2023-24, South Coast NSW
The colouration of the Handmaiden moth (Amata nigriceps), and similarly coloured moths, used to confuse me when I was younger, as to whether they were dangerous or not. Now, I can appreciate the beauty of that simple colour combination. Fortunately, one of them flew into the garden at Narooma, where it landed on the wood of a raised garden bed. I managed to get to an angel in front of the orange and black moth without scaring it off, where I took the above shot. I really liked how the moth seemed to be in the process of shaking its head through to its who body, just like a horse would do. This was just one of the photographs that I took when I had a pleasant time over a few months focussing on macro photography at Narooma, trying to capture shots of a number of little creatures. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
Read MoreWildlife along a wet Settlers Track - Namadgi National Park, ACT, January 2022
Walking along trails of green grass under grey clouds that occasionally drizzled rain while at other times opened to reveal glorious blue skies helped refresh my son and I. The fresh wind moistened by humidity and light precipitation was never too strong, just enough to keep us cooled while we walked along the Settlers Track in Namadgi National Park. The birdlife was around but hard to see, but there was other wildlife and natural subjects to photograph. The two well-preserved former settler’s homes seemed out of place among this natural beauty, but the lack of activity around them emphasised that they were from a time past. While we enjoyed admiring the natural surrounds of these abodes their isolation reflected a different time, and it was nice to know that we would be hopping into a car and driving back to our home with its modern connectivity to the world. Still it was invigorating to feel the surrounding world of trees, creeks and animals for a few hours. I hope that you enjoy the pictures below.
Read MoreFlies, spiders and a beautiful flower - Lockdown macrophotography August/September 2021
I suspect that most people would not appreciate the beauty in flies, especially a blow fly, more so an introduced species like the European Bluebottle. Most people would understandably fear the fly-borne filth and disease or detest the low-pitched humming noise. However, I love macrophotography of these specific tiny creatures because their colours are wild, like some miniature drone with a metallic blue abdomen and a gold mask through which two rust-red eyes are protruding. They are almost garish in their shiny colours but they symbolise why I enjoy macrophotography, because sometimes having a different perspective can show beauty in anything. Finding beauty is especially important at present, with Canberra still in COVID lockdown, so I am happy to find the tiniest bit of beauty to help keep me bright. Because of the necessary restrictions I am not getting out on the weekends so I am once again taking trips into my garden jungle to see what wonderful creatures I can find. Recently, the warmer weather and longer days started to bring new floral life to the garden so insects are out, as well as the spiders that feed on them. This is the start of a great time to photograph nature. While I can’t travel far, I can search our yard for more subjects to practice macrophotography on. Unfortunately, while the weather over the last two weekends was not great I just felt I needed to have the camera in my hand again so I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.
Read MoreAdmiring the beauty found in small creatures around my garden - January to May 2021
I don’t know how many different species of insects and spiders inhabit the tiny bit of nature that we cultivate in our garden but they are a constant source of amazement to me. I sometimes wonder, when I watch them go about their lives, if they register that our garden seems different to the expansive bush not far away. Do they even notice or do they see the red bricks of our house the same as sandstone rocks out in the scrub. I feel frustrated when they flee from my lens, don’t they understand that I mean them no harm, indeed I just want to photographically capture their stunning life form to display to anybody who will look. But I console myself that they can’t understand that a hulking shape getting nearer is no threat to them because even a herbivorous animal can still accidentally tread on a fragile, tiny creature ending its life right there. Occasionally, I am lucky because these tiny animals go about their business oblivious to the whir of my camera drive snapping their private moments. That was the case with the two Greenish Grass-darts that top this post. I was able to lie headfirst in one of our lavender plants, using a reflector to light the engrossed insects while I snapped away happily. They were not the only beautiful creatures that I came across earlier this year. With the aid of my macro lens I have been fortunate enough to peer closely at the co-inhabitants of the area that we live on, seeing the stunning detail that they have evolved to live their lives. That is one of the reasons that I love macrophotography, a true portal to a different world. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.
Read MoreAnimals beside a dirt road between destinations in March 2021
I think we all know what it is like when a plan does not turn out as expected. That happened to me on a weekend in March 2021 but I had a whole new experience so I was not that upset. I found myself photographing beside Mount Franklin Road when I should have been following it to my planned destination. Canberra had experienced some heavy rain the weekend before so I checked the ACT service page to see if there was any news on the status of Mount Franklin Road, was it open or closed. Unfortunately, there was no information so I had to take my chances. That Sunday, 28 March, I drove towards my objective to the south-west of Canberra, ever hopeful that the dry weather over most of the week would mean that the roads were safe and open. The first, and clearest, indication that was not the case was when I turned onto Brindabella Road where a sign post gave the status of the surrounding dirt roads and Mount Franklin Road was closed. Being incredibly optimistic, and having already traveled half-way to the destination, I pushed on, only to find that the Mount Franklin Road was indeed closed, with a locked steel gate across it to emphasise that point. However, there was still bush around and the closed road meant that I could walk along its dirt surface without fear of being run-over by a car, so I grabbed my camera bag to go for a hike in order to see what subjects there were. I ended up having a fantastic morning, mainly with macro subjects. At times I found myself lying in dewy grass, my head buried in a shrub trying to get the right angle for a shot and thoroughly enjoying the experience. I also had a chance to use my drone to shoot some pictures of the Murrumbidgee River in flood. I hope that you like the pictures below.
Read MoreNatural beauty of the Long Plain, Kosciuszko National Park in March 2021
My good mate and fellow photographer BigFigTree said he wanted to try to get some atmospheric shots of the wild Brumbies on the Long Plain in Kosciuszko National Park, and that there was a spare seat in his car if I wanted it. I jumped at the chance so we decided to do the trip over the Saturday and Sunday of the Canberra Day Long Weekend. I am so glad that he invited me because it opened my eyes to a whole wilderness just on the outskirts of Canberra that is so beautiful. We had a great couple of days, stopping to take photos, camping beside the beautiful Blue Waterholes and just moving at a slower pace. Our Brumby photographs did not turn out well but we found so many other subjects. He is a great photographer and I would recommend checking out his Flickr feed, linked above. It really was a fun two days and I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.
Read MoreOvercast photography around Kambah Pool in January 2021
I read about a trail that crossed McQuoid Creek near Kambah Pool that I thought looked interesting. I did not want to do the full trail but I wanted to concentrate on the area around the creek itself. The trail was easy enough to access, it was opposite the small carpark located outside of the Kambah Pool entrance. While I was prepared to get my feet wet crossing the creek, because I had already read about that possibility, I was not prepared for the waist-high grass that I encountered. The rain over spring and summer had caused a lot of growth in this area meaning that the trails were no longer too distinct. I started following a trail made by a vehicle and missed the connecting trail. I only realised I had missed the trail when I encountered the Pine Island to Kambah Pool trail, which was a well-made and maintained trail. The area that I was in was very small and I never went too far from where I could still hear the odd car driving to Kambah Pool so I was in no risk of getting truly lost but I knew that my original plan was not going to work. The weather was also challenging because it was very overcast which not much light reaching the subjects that I was looking at. Fortunately, on both days that I visited the weather cleared up a bit towards the end of my time there so I had some better lighting. I was happy to see a Nankeen Kestrel on my first visit as well as Dollarbirds; those sightings prompted me to return the next weekend in anticipation of what I might see. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below of what I did see.
Read MoreNankeen Kestrel, Rainbow Bee-eater and some wonderful insects - Photographing at Gigerline Nature Reserve in November 2020
Gigerline Nature Reserve sits astride the Murrumbidgee River just south of Tharwa. I had visited part of the reserve before when I went to Tharwa Sandwash but I had not really visited the rest of the reserve. After heading there once, I ended up visiting it twice because I wanted to see more. My first visit was with the plan to walk along the Gudgenby River as far as I could, thinking that the water level would not be too high. I was wrong, the water level was right up and I could barely get to the remaining banks of the river from the surrounding countryside. As part of that trip I walked up to the top of the ridge of the peninsula that separates the Gudgenby and Murrumbidgee Rivers before they join. I am glad that I did because I came across the path that followed the ridgeline down to the tip of the peninsula. I did not have time to explore that path on my first visit so I knew that I would be back. I ended up having two great visits and saw my first wild Rainbow Bee-eaters, truly a beautiful bird. The second visit was a bit of a macro paradise, with so many subjects to photograph. I hope you like the photographs below.
Read MoreGrey Fantail on a nest, Superb Fairy-wrens and a lot of insects - Photographing at Denman Prospect on Saturday, 2 January 2021
I had recently ridden my mountain bike through the area of Denman Prospect, not realising that there was some bushland there. I was interested in returning with a camera because Denman Prospect is on the edge of Canberra, facing to the west and north-west, with rural land between it and the mountain ranges. While the bushland was very near a growing suburb I thought that it may be worth a visit to see what wildlife was around. I was so glad that I did visit because I had a wonderful morning and stayed far longer than I planned. I spent most of my morning exploring Stringybark Hill, which did not seem to be an official reserve and contained what looked to be a lot of new growth native forest. I probably heard more birds than I saw or was able to photograph because the bush was reasonably thick, with a dense canopy that hampered lighting but also kept the undergrowth under control. The open areas had tall grass and other plants, keeping me on the look out for my first opportunity to photograph a snake, which did not happen. I really enjoyed my walk and I was constantly distracted by things to photograph. I will certainly be returning to this site in the future. I hope you like the photographs below.
Read MoreSpeckled Warbler, Orange-winged Sittella and, at last, frogs! - Photographing at Cuumbeun Nature Reserve on Sunday, 4 October 2020
Heading east out of Canberra towards the coast most of Canberra’s residents will use the Kings Highway. We all know that highway well as it winds its way to the refreshing coastal waters during a Canberra summer. I also decided to go for a drive one Sunday morning in October but with the intent to stop much closer to Canberra. I probably expect that most people who drive that road think that the bit of natural bush land on the southern side of the highway just after it climbs out of Queanbeyan is an uncleared development waiting for Queanbeyan to expand. I also had not really given it much thought until I became curious as to what the land was and whether I could photograph on it. The land is part of the Cuumbeun Nature Reserve, which is open to the public. It is a 709 hectare reserve only created in 2001.
Read MoreHoneyeaters, Rufous Whistler and a multitude of small birds - Photographing at Paddys River on Sundays, 6 and 13 September 2020
While I have visited where Paddys River meets the Cotter River, I have only ever driven across the bridge over Paddys River further upstream on my way to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve but never given a thought to stopping there. So I decided it was time to stop at that bridge to explore that area underneath it to see what animals there were. In the end, I visited the area over two successive weekends because I found so much of interest. I was focussed more on the birds but there was other life around, all of which will make me include this location on my regular visit list. It was so tranquil yet so full of life with different species of honeyeaters, and so many small birds whirling around me. Plus there was the reassuring gurgle of Paddys River flowing past me on both visits.
Read MoreSulphur-crested Cockatoo, flowers and small wildlife - Photographing around home in early September 2020
Canberra has been reasonably lucky with COVID-19. As spring arrives there are no lockdowns and people are able to go out with minimal restrictions to enjoy the bush that surrounds and enters Canberra. While I still love getting out to the lovely natural areas around Canberra I can still find some interesting photographic subjects around my own home. Spring has brought out flowers, that have attracted insects and the birds are coming back as well. I thought I would gather some recent photos into a single post of some of the things that I photographed in my garden; subjects that did not really fit into other posts.
Read MoreSnow on the Brindabella Ranges around Canberra - Photographing around Canberra on Sunday, 23 August 2020
I am creating a pattern of starting posts with apologies and this one also starts with an apology. I am sorry, there is only a single picture of a bird below. I set out to meet a friend at the Stony Creek Nature Reserve to photograph birds and wildlife there but snow fell around Canberra on Saturday, 22 August and was still lying on the Brindabella Ranges the next day. As I was driving the 25 minutes to the nature reserve, and I was only about five minutes drive from my house, I looked out and saw the scene in the photograph at the top of the post. There is no doubt that I love bird and wildlife photography but I cannot ignore scenery like that when the sky makes it even moodier thanks to the dawn’s red glow and brooding clouds. I had to pull over to take some photographs. Coincidentally, while I was photographing, my friend phoned to say that he may be late or may not be able to get to the reserve as he was also photographing what he was seeing. We agreed that sometimes, when photographing, you just have to go with what is presented to you. Eventually, we did meet up, but on the road to the reserve where we both had pulled over to take more photographs. I stopped a couple more times on the way to the reserve. I also bumped into a nice guy who, like us, was out photographing the scenery. My friend and I eventually got to the nature reserve but it was then that a large cloud blocked out the sun. While was saw a number of birds the light was not bright enough to get good shots, so I only took one, possibly half-reasonable, shot of a Crimson Rosella. I was not disappointed with the morning because I really enjoyed the scenery and I thought that Stony Creek Nature Reserve was definitely worth another visit. Later that morning, I took my camera out to the yard, while I was supposed to be gardening, to take some shots around the garden. To cap off this very different photographic journey to the one I had envisioned, I had found a wombat skull in my touring around on Sunday and spent a couple of nights during the week trying to come up with the best way to photograph it. All in all, those change of plans on Sunday turned out for the best and I had a lot of fun. I will be back to photographing birds again but I do consider myself to be a nature photographer as well, so it was exhilarating to expand my photo collection that day with some different shots to those that I usually take. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
Read MorePhotographing birds in a heavy fog - Photographing at Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve on Sunday, 2 August 2020
I am going to start with an apology as the photos below are not the best. The forecast for Sunday, 2 August, was for fog so when I looked out of my front window on that morning and I could barely see down the road, I knew it was not a good day for photographing. I consoled myself that while the fog would make it difficult to photograph I could at least explore Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve to see if it was worth another visit again when the weather was better. Arriving at the reserve I could see the fog was still thick and the light was not penetrating well. I had to crank up my ISO and I knew I would already have grain in the photos because of the water droplets in the fog. The reserve was open country, which was one reason that I wanted to visit, a different type of terrain to where I usually go. I climbed up a hill to see if the fog would break higher up, no luck. I even launched my drone to see if it could break through the fog at its 120 m altitude limit and at least get a photo of the fog layer from above. Again, no luck. Because of the fog I concentrated more on still subjects that I could approach closely, such as the ever interesting dead trees that always have photo-worthy shapes. I did take some photos of birds but they were grainy, so I am not happy with the results. I was going to head out the following weekend but it was raining and overcast so not the best weather again for photography. Despite what I have said, I had an enjoyable visit and really wish to return when the weather is better. I hope you enjoy at least some of the shots below.
Read MoreA large Australian Wood Duck family and macro shooting, including my first frogs - Photographing around Canberra in April 2020
I am still trying to get back into a routine but life always seems to get in the way but at least I got out a number of times in April. I was happy to get out at night a couple of times to do some night-time macro shooting. My son even came out with one time to Aranda Bushland Nature Reserve and pointed out my first frog, which I had already walked straight past. As there were school holidays we went out for some afternoon walks around Red Hill Nature Reserve and he patiently waited for me to take some photographs. Even though Canberra was still in the middle of the COVID-19 restrictions it was an enjoyable April and I also made another video that you can watch in this post. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
Read MoreSeabirds, New Holland Honeyeaters and wonderful shorelife - Photographing around Sydney in December 2019
Being in Sydney over Christmas in 2019 was a chance to get away from the smoke in Canberra. It was also a great opportunity to photograph the shore life around the south-eastern side of Sydney Harbour, including the birdlife. Strangely, it was hard to find too much birdlife so I am not sure if the December weather patterns and bushfires had made it harder on Sydney birds than usual. However, I did enjoy photographing some Crested Terns and a Pied Cormorant, although they were at a distance from me so the shots are not the best. I also had the opportunity to do macro photography of some cool insects I found around the place. The weather was mostly pretty good with reasonable light, although there were some gusty winds at time. Still it was nice to enjoy the photographic opportunities I had. I hope you like the pictures below.
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