Little Friarbird

This Juvenile Little Friarbird will loose its yellow throat feathers when it matures. Photographed at Biambi Yumba park in Fig Tree Pocket (Brisbane).

Nikon d70 : 1/250 : f/5.6 : 300mm : iso200

Orchard Swallowtail

This is the underside view of the the caterpillar from the privious post. Apparently these guys are noisy eaters, so loud, that you can locate them by listening to them eat!

Nikon d70 : 1/60 : f/10 : 90mm : iso200

Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillar

This is a rather large caterpillar, as it should be, because it turns into a rather large butterfly (one of the largest in the Brisbane area at 110mm). When disturbed, it extrudes red tentacles from its head and emits a strong smell.

Nikon d70 : 1/160 : f/10 : 90mm : iso200

Three Sisters

This is a fairly typical image of the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains, taken from the vantage of Echo Point lookout. I could hardly travel all that way and not take the photo could I?

Nikon d70 : 1/200 : f/8 : 38mm : iso200

Silver Gull

I re-evaluated some of my holiday photos and found I that I had infact snapped some nature photos, so I may as well post some over the next couple of days.

I was trying to make my way to the light house at Stockton ( near Newcastle) before the storm hit. I quite get there, but I managed to capture this abstract shot of a flock of silver gulls taking off.

Nikon d70 : 1/13 : f/4.5 : 70mm : iso200

Wasp

Sorry to family and fans. It has been a long time since my last posting. I've been kept busy with visitors and travel and nature photo ops have been slim. I'm hoping to spend quite a bit of time this week walking around the bush to get more shots.

In the mean time, I found this wasp flying around the orange tree in the back garden.

nikon d70 : 1/500 : f/5.6 : 90mm : iso200

Naked Treefrog

This is another find from my friends backyard at Greenbank. The Naked Tree frog is common in the western suburbs, breeding anywhere from flooded paddocks to temporary or permanent ponds. It measures only 40mm.

Nikon d70 : 1/60 : f/11 : 90mm : iso200

Ornate Burrowing-frog

Found this little fella out at Greenbank in a friends backyard. It measures only 45mm, with a variable pattern and often a pale butterfly marking between its front shoulders.

Nikon d70 : 1/60 : f/11 : 90mm : iso200

Rainbow Bee-eater

I first saw these guys last weekend while walking across Brisbanes' new "green bridge" at Dutton Park. I went back this evening with camera in hand and there were dozens of them in the same area.

Nikon d70 : 1/200 : f/7.1 : 300mm : iso200

Red-browed Firetail

The basic definition of a Firetail is "a finch with a bright red rump". I've seen a group of about 4-6 feeding of grass seeds in the creekbed of Enoggera creek out at The Gap (the same place I've been seeing the snakes).

Nikon d70 : 1/50 : f/5.6 : 250mm : iso400

Yellow-faced Whip Snake

Found this snake in the same area as I found the one chasing the frog last week. The Yellow-faced Whip Snake is wide spread through Australia, is found in open grass and woodland. It is active during the day, feeding on lizards. It's potentually dangerous, especially to children.

Nikon d70 : 1/250 : f/8 : 300mm : iso200

Who said cockroaches were filthy, ugly critters? Who ever it was,they obviously haven't seen this one. The Austral Ellipsidion Cockroach is mostly active at night and is not a ground dweller, rather it spends its time on plants and feeds on pollen, honeydew and mould fungus.

Nikon d70 : 1/125 : f/4 : 90mm : iso200

Snake Attack

The snake (I think it is a Rough-scaled Snake), was searching all around this shallow pool of water in Enoggera Creek at The Gap for the frog (no ID). It didn't do a very good job, it climbed over it, around it, under it (after the frog jumped in the water) for about 8 minutes, and still didn't notice it! By the time I left, the frog looked to be safe and on its way up the bank.

Nikon d70 : 1/60 : f/4 : 90mm : iso200

Green Tree Frog

This image always makes me feel relaxed. It's the way I'd like to spend my days, sitting around, with not a care in the world.

Mikon d70 : 1/250 : f/5.6 : 300mm : iso200

Wattle Hopper

I haven't got a specific name for this one, but I can go as far as to ID it as a Wattle Hopper. I found dozens of these on the trunk of a wattle tree at the base of Mt Coot-tha.

Nikon d07 : 1\80 : f/4 : 90mm : iso200

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

G'day again, it's good to be back in action with a new memory card. I still haven't been able to recover lost photos from the corrupted card.

There has been a large group of these Sulphur-crested Cockatoos hanging about along the highway at Toowong.

Nikon d70 : 1/80 : f/5.6 : 300mm : iso200

Striated Pardolote

This is a back up photo I've been saving for a rainy day. Not only is it raining today, but I've lost Christmas eve wildlife photos and Christmas day family photos because my memory card failed! I hope to be able to run some recovery software, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Oh, the frustration!

Hover Fly

A couple of Hover Flies join the Mile High Club.

Nikon d70 : 1/160 : f/6.3 : 90mm : iso200

Common Ringtail Possum

These guys, as the name suggests, are common in Brisbane. Unfortunately, you often see them as road kill almost as often as you see them running across power lines. They also like to drive my dog mad by running up and down the back fence.

Nikon d70 : 1/60 : f/4.5 : 70mm : iso200

Tawny Grassbird

This is another photo for my stay near Lismore. As my feild guide says, this guy is a "Warbler of long grass and reeds". Which is exactly where I found him.

Nikon d70 : 1/500 : f/5.6 : 300mm : iso200