Gasteruptiid wasp female with a prominent ovipositor at the rear
(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 a Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro Lens and Canon 430EX III-RT flash)

Macro in Canberra - November 2023 to March 2024

BirdsinCanberra October 17, 2024

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.

A Handmaiden moth (*Amata nigriceps*) appearing to getting to toss its head like a horse
(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 a Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro Lens and Canon 430EX III-RT flash)

Macrophotography of some invertebrates on the South Coast - Summer 2023-24, South Coast NSW

BirdsinCanberra May 28, 2024

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.

The head of a Beach Stone-curlew
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])

Beach Stone-curlew, shore birds and other wildlife - Shoalhaven Heads, NSW, January 2024

BirdsinCanberra January 30, 2024

Walking across the sanded-up mouth of the Shoalhaven River, I had already had an enjoyable morning photographing sone wading birds. Approaching the southern head of the river that was now sealed, and where the dune vegetation was taking root on the beach, I startled a Beach Stone-curlew when I must have appeared suddenly near it. The bird darted a few steps from cover and stopped, Every now and then it would make a single note call, but I did not hear a response. The bird and I stopped at our respective locations, looking at each other. I was worried that I would scare the curlew when I lifted my camera up to photograph but the bird stayed still, keeping an eye on me. I was excited that I was able to photograph this species but I was also trying to calm down and think about what settings I needed and the best angle to shoot. I was attempting to take photographs in case the bird flew off but I was trying to balance that with taking good photographs to record my first sighting of a Beach Stone-curlew. I enjoyed the chance to see such a beautiful bird so close up and that sighting made my morning. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.

Young Peron’s Tree Frog on the back steps of the garden
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 640, 100mm, f/16 and 1/100 SEC] with Canon 430EX III-RT flash)

Interesting little creatures in a garden - Narooma, NSW, October-December 2023

BirdsinCanberra December 26, 2023

Sometimes it is nice to pause and look at the little creatures that inhabit the same space as us in our garden. Initially, they can be hard to see but when we slow down and take a second look at the greenery do we notice the little creature. One evening, I walked out the back door of the house in Narooma to look for those little animals and was barely noticing the steps ahead of me. There were some leaves on them, as there often were, but one brownish leaf looked different that night. I had another look and there was a small Peron’s Tree Frog, probably a juvenile, on the edge of a step. I had taken only a few paces from the back door and already nature was there. The frog was not that fussed by me and even let me take a very close front on portrait. That made my night. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.

Little Wattlebird in Cape Honeysuckle
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 160, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])

A quiet house with a living garden - Beautiful Narooma Part 3, Summer 2022/23

BirdsinCanberra March 9, 2023

The back garden of the house we were staying in at Narooma was relatively secluded from our neighbours on either side. To the rear was a nature reserve with well established eucalyptus and other trees, but also with an understory for smaller birds to seek shelter in. Over the summer the house’s garden was rich with blooming flowers that honeyeaters enjoyed and attracted insects for the insect-eaters to prey on. The garden was alive with life that barely cared if I was there. Hanging out the washing on the back clothes line always took a while because I was constantly distracted. I started carrying my camera with me because I wanted to capture some of this activity. One day a Little Wattlebird was sampling the nectar from the well established Cape Honeysuckle. The bird wood have some nectar from a few flowers in the group before flying to another group, only to return to the original group a little while later. It was the embodiment of being spoilt with riches and wanting to have it all but not knowing where to eat next.

Lage Brown Mantid noticing me getting closer
(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 a Raynox DCR250 Super Macro Lens and Canon 430EX III-RT flash)

Praying mantis looking at me and other macro subjects - Home, ACT, October 2022

BirdsinCanberra November 3, 2022

The pseudo pupils of the Large Brown Mantid made this alien-like insect appear like it was looking directly at me. No doubt the mantis had detected my approach but the raised triangular head with the large eyes was exactly the shot I was hoping for. The mantis had been resting on a black garden stake when I went searching for macro subjects to try out my recently purchased Raynox DCR 250 Super Macro Lens, which simply clips onto the front of my Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. I was thrilled when I came across the praying mantis because it was such a spectacular macro subject, especially when it lifted its head. After a while, it seemed to sense that the camera was not a threat so it returned to a relatively normal position even though its large eyes were still slightly tilted toward my lens. I enjoyed my time playing around with my new lens and I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.

A seed pod from a tree lying on the tiled ground
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 1600, 100mm, f/9.0 and 1/125 SEC])

Photo challenge to find subjects in an urban car park - Civic, ACT, February 2022

BirdsinCanberra May 9, 2022

This is a different kind of post and it is basically only pictures. One day in in February my wife asked me to drive her to a shop in Civic because she wanted to learn the way to get there. Once we arrived, she would do the shopping while I stayed in the car. Rather than just wait in the car I decided to take my camera to challenge myself to find some nature subjects in an urban car park. To equip myself properly, I took two lens, my Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM and Canon EF40mm f2.8 STM. I don’t think any of the shots that resulted are fantastic but it was a fun challenge, made even harder by the wet, overcast weather that robbed me of good lighting. I hope you like them.

Thanks for looking at my photos. I hope you come back again to read more about some of the wonderful natural things that the Australian Capital Territory has on offer. All the best until the next post.

A European Bluebottle may not appeal to everybody but I love the contrasting metallic blue with the rust red eye(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 Canon 430EX III-RT flash) — A European Bluebottle may not appeal to everybody but I love the contrasting metallic blue with the rust red eye
(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 Canon 430EX III-RT flash)

Flies, spiders and a beautiful flower - Lockdown macrophotography August/September 2021

BirdsinCanberra September 9, 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.

Two Rainbow Lorikeets on the feeding stand
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1250, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])

Beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets become lockdown photography models - Lockdown photography, August 2021

BirdsinCanberra August 27, 2021

The COVID-19 related Lockdown continued in Canberra and it was a necessary step to keep the population safe. However, it was still a weird time, trying to work from home but not really being able to, but not being able to leave home when the weather was great for photography. I also felt guilty if I was away from my computer during the day and therefore not doing the office work but as a counter I figured that I no longer had to commute to work so that time now became my time to look for photography subjects in our garden. I was fortunate of an afternoon because things happened around the garden. The previous post had some lovely Gang-gang Cockatoos that flew in on one day and for this post some vivacious Rainbow Lorikeets dropped by to provide colour and noise to our locked-down home. These wildly coloured birds that remind me of wonderful, youthful summers in Sydney really made my day. I hope that you like the photographs below.

Common Brushtail Possum standing in our garden one morning(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 2000, 400mm, f/6.3 and 1/320 SEC]) — Common Brushtail Possum standing in our garden one morning
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 2000, 400mm, f/6.3 and 1/320 SEC])

Possum in our garden in the day and other disconnected winter photographs - June 2021

BirdsinCanberra July 4, 2021

One morning, almost two hours after sunrise, the native birds visiting our garden were making a massive din; squawking and calling. There were Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Noisy Miners and probably some others as well. The noise drew my attention because it sounded alarmed, something was worrying all these birds. I assumed the it was someone’s cat, or, more exotically, a feral fox that had come into the yard. Cautiously, I went outside where I was surprised, and very much delighted, to see a Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) standing up in our back garden. These are nocturnal animals so not what I was expecting during the day. It stayed standing on its haunches for a while, meaning that I had enough time to grab my camera from inside the house. The possum remained upright for a little while when I returned. Its focus was fixed across the garden in the direction of a large iron bark, like it was not interested in me. I was captivated by the possum so I never examined what it was looking at. Then, it suddenly darted across, to where it was looking, causing the birds to make even more noise. The possum ran about two meters up the iron bark before effortlessly jumping onto the top of the wooden slat fence between us and our neighbour. The possum ran along the top of that narrow fence towards the rear of the garden, where I lost sight of it behind the garden shed. The cockatoos perched on the power line continued to observe it for a few seconds more, calling loudly among themselves while looking downwards to where the possum must have been dashing. Possums and cockatoos compete for tree hollows so I could understand why those two species did not get on.

Two Greenish Grass-darts mating on the lavender in our garden distracted me one Saturday morning(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 500, 100mm, f/14 and 1/200 SEC]) — Two Greenish Grass-darts mating on the lavender in our garden distracted me one Saturday morning
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 500, 100mm, f/14 and 1/200 SEC])

Admiring the beauty found in small creatures around my garden - January to May 2021

BirdsinCanberra June 14, 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.

Acacia Tree Hopper climbing up a wattle stalk(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 1000, 100mm, f/10 and 1/200 SEC]) — Acacia Tree Hopper climbing up a wattle stalk
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 1000, 100mm, f/10 and 1/200 SEC])

Animals beside a dirt road between destinations in March 2021

BirdsinCanberra April 20, 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.

Frilled Bark Moth with half a wing missing - the struggle for life in the macro world is always ongoing(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/20 and 1/180 SEC] with Canon 430EX III-RT flash and five shot focu… — Frilled Bark Moth with half a wing missing - the struggle for life in the macro world is always ongoing
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/20 and 1/180 SEC] with Canon 430EX III-RT flash and five shot focus stack)

Small animals, big battles - Cataloguing the struggles of nature with macro photography in November and December 2020

BirdsinCanberra March 25, 2021

Coming home one day I saw a moth with half a wing missing on a wall of our house. I almost went past it thinking that it would not make a good subject because it was so damaged. However, it got me thinking about how these tiny creatures that we barely notice in our daily rush experience very real struggles to avoid being killed either as food or in some other dispute. This post was inspired by the number of ‘incomplete’ little creatures I started to notice around my house. While photographers understandably concentrate on taking the perfect shot of the perfect specimen, I wanted to look at documenting the struggle that is invisible to us most of the time but is happening in our own gardens. These are not cute and cuddly creatures but are animals that we can see if we take a moment to notice the small, exciting world just outside our door. I hope you find the photos below to be of interest.

Twig-like Katydid on our fly screen door(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) — Twig-like Katydid on our fly screen door
(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)

Macro photography around home in November and December 2020

BirdsinCanberra March 21, 2021

Sometimes home is a great place to take photographs because there is a wild jungle in the garden with all sorts of wonderful creatures contained within. Over the summer of late 2020 I found myself always taking a camera with me when I was out gardening or doing other things in the yard. I always wanted to be ready to take those fleeting shots of the amazing tiny animals that keep us company but we barely notice. Sometimes, an overturned clump of mud would come alive with life or a pruned branch would reveal an insect upon it. This led to a lot of random photographs that did not really fit in other posts so I knew that I would have to do a compilation to include them all. Over time I became fascinated with those small creatures and I find macrophotography allowed me to see them in far more detail than my eyes did. Sometimes they were not so small, like the truly amazing looking Twig-like Katydid at the top of this post. In the small ones, sometimes the shots revealed colours that we were not able to see, I became amazed at the colours in some flies. I know that insects and spiders are not everybody’s favourite subject but I find them fascinating and I hope that you like the photographs below.

Emerald Moth at night around Blue Waterholes(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 200, 100mm, f/14 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite) — Emerald Moth at night around Blue Waterholes
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 200, 100mm, f/14 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)

Natural beauty of the Long Plain, Kosciuszko National Park in March 2021

BirdsinCanberra March 17, 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.

Water droplet on the face of a Tau Emerald dragonfly(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 640, 100mm, f/10 and 1/400 SEC] two shot focus stacking) — Water droplet on the face of a Tau Emerald dragonfly
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 640, 100mm, f/10 and 1/400 SEC] two shot focus stacking)

Looking closer at the awesome wildlife of Namadgi National Park in February 2021

BirdsinCanberra March 14, 2021

Namadgi National Park is located to the south of Canberra and extends all the way to the southern border of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) where it merges with the Kosciuszko National Park on the New South Wales (NSW) side of the border. Unfortunately, Namadgi suffered extensive damage in the 2019-20 summer bushfires, with some parts of the park still undergoing regeneration work even now. However, the area that is open makes for a beautiful place for a visit. I visited the park twice in February, although I could not do the walk that I wanted on the second visit because that trail was still shut for bushfire recovery work. However, I was still able to photograph a family of Australasian Grebes swimming in the pond at the visitors center as well as some interesting insects, including a pair of mating damselflies. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.

Nankeen Kestrel against an overcast sky(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/6.3 and 1/320 SEC]) — Nankeen Kestrel against an overcast sky
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/6.3 and 1/320 SEC])

Overcast photography around Kambah Pool in January 2021

BirdsinCanberra February 14, 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.

Gang-gang Cockatoo female chewing on a tree(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC]) — Gang-gang Cockatoo female chewing on a tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])

Gang-gang Cockatoos, other parrots and some cute jumping spiders - Photographing around Red Hill Nature Reserve and Hughes in Mid-October 2020

BirdsinCanberra October 26, 2020

It had been a while since I had visited Red Hill Nature Reserve, despite it being almost right on our doorstep. I had been distracted because normally on Sundays I headed to a number of other locations around Canberra but I felt I had ignored this local jewel for too long. The inspiration for my return was actually a bunch of weeds. I had been driving on a road that runs along the north side of Red Hill when I notices large patches of purple on the hill. I suspected that they were probably weeds but I thought that they may make a nice subject for a photograph. I am glad that a few days later I did go out photographing because I had a wonderful encounter with some Gang-gang Cockatoos that I followed up the next day. While I did not travel far that weekend I had fun, including watching some of the jumping spiders I found around our house. I ended up doing more photography than I planned but I am glad that I did. I hope that you like the photos below.

The huntsman spider on the tree(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 huntsman spider on the tree
(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 biggest huntsman I have photographed - Photographing around Lake Burley Griffin on Saturday night, 3 October 2020

BirdsinCanberra October 9, 2020

I feel that I am on a quest to get more photographs of the frog species around Canberra. That somewhat Quixotic quest, given how hard it is to find frogs, saw me out on this Saturday night with a headlamp and my camera walking around a shore of Lake Burley Griffin. I was hoping to find some frogs to photograph, but the title of this post is a bit of a spoiler. I heard a lot of frogs but I could not see any to photograph. I consoled myself when I came across the largest huntsman spider that I have been able to photograph. I really enjoyed photographing this amazing looking spider, but I certainly made sure I did not get too close. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.

An immature orb-weaver spider moving from one leaf to another in the rain(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) — An immature orb-weaver spider moving from one leaf to another in the rain
(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)

A rain-drenched orb-weaver spider and rain drops on leaves - Photographing around home on a wet Sunday afternoon, 20 September 2020

BirdsinCanberra September 26, 2020

Sunday, 20 September, was one of those rare occasions when I did not head out somewhere to photograph. There was heavy rain and the rain radar showed that the downpour was going to continue for a while so I decided it was not the morning for photography. However, later that day I thought I would have a walk around our yard to see what subjects I could find to photograph in the rain. I was inspired to try this by a good friend of mine. I was speaking to this friend on the Friday beforehand and we discussed the forecasted bad weather for Sunday. My version of the conversation is that my friend said that I was a wimp for not photographing in the rain, although my friend might dispute that account. However, since this is my blog post, my version stands.