Shot wildlife

Little lizard inside

2012-01-31T23:37:00.001-08:00

Dragonfly

2012-01-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

Snake on a suburban footpath

2011-12-26T01:22:00.000-08:00

Black cockatoos

2011-12-26T01:21:00.001-08:00

Blue tongue

2011-12-26T01:15:00.000-08:00

Bee in my backyard

2011-11-15T12:06:00.001-08:00

Lizzie Lizard

2011-10-26T23:39:00.001-07:00

My son decided to keep this penny lizard as a pet but I quietly let it go once he'd lost interest.

Fivebough Swamp visit

2011-10-05T02:09:00.000-07:00

Redback spiders

2011-09-03T06:03:00.001-07:00

Redbacks are considered one of the most dangerous spiders in Australia.

And I love the fact that they're one of few arachnids which display sexual cannibalism while mating.

Coastal bull oak

2011-05-07T05:16:00.001-07:00

Herron

2011-04-21T19:14:00.001-07:00

Happy possum

2011-04-17T01:29:00.001-07:00

Hermit crab

2011-04-13T21:23:00.001-07:00

Beach bug

2011-04-13T15:30:00.001-07:00

Moth

2011-03-02T03:22:00.000-08:00

"Bug-gee"

2011-03-02T03:21:00.000-08:00

Eden found this little critter.

Dragonfly in a web

2011-02-10T01:30:00.000-08:00

Skink

2011-02-10T01:27:00.001-08:00

Hairy Mary

2011-02-01T23:54:00.001-08:00

Gecko in my sink

2011-02-01T23:52:00.000-08:00

Praying at my backdoor

2011-01-24T03:07:00.000-08:00

Nice boots

2011-01-15T16:10:00.000-08:00

St Andrews Cross spider

2010-12-17T02:58:00.000-08:00

Flower spider

2010-12-16T22:31:00.001-08:00

Christmas beetle

2010-12-06T02:25:00.000-08:00

Locust invasion

2010-12-04T00:44:00.000-08:00

Dragonfly among mosquitoes

2010-12-01T01:03:00.000-08:00

Channelling local birdlife

2010-11-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

Leeton was built as part of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Scheme and it's interesting to see how birds have adapted, like the waterbirds who hang out in the channels around town.

The proximity of Fivebough Swamp also brings a lot of birds to the area, including migratory birds who fly from the northern hemisphere to breed.

Green stinker

2010-11-03T06:15:00.001-07:00

After recent rains there seemed to be a hatching of these shiny green beetles. My partner and I had never seen them before and, individually on the same day, picked them up to discover their defense against predators is to spray some gassy sort of stink on them.

Water monitors at the National Botanic Gardens

2010-11-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Blue tongue lizard foreplay

2010-10-31T23:55:00.000-07:00

While waiting outside my brother's place I heard a rustling from under the stairs. There was a big blue tongue lizard biting a smaller blue tongue.

"It's a fight" I said but my partner said it was more likely they were mating.

Sure enough, as I moved in for another photo, they scampered off together.

Courting swans

2010-10-23T02:41:00.000-07:00

Big fat redback

2010-10-14T01:42:00.000-07:00

Squashed 'man

2010-10-14T01:39:00.000-07:00

Spiders were here

2010-10-06T04:34:00.001-07:00

Life goes on

2010-09-04T23:21:00.001-07:00

Flat 'pie

2010-08-02T02:26:00.001-07:00

The very hungry caterpillar

2010-08-02T02:22:00.000-07:00

Hairy mother

2010-07-15T04:46:00.001-07:00

This spider was climbing on my audio gear.

Hunting while the stubble burns

2010-07-15T04:27:00.001-07:00

Spring

2010-07-15T03:33:00.000-07:00

We recently passed the winter solstice and I'm really looking forward to spring.

1-2-3 Pull!

2010-07-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

Bushfire

2010-06-14T02:32:00.000-07:00

While fire isn't native to Australia it is certainly an influential character in its history.

Redback spider

2010-05-30T03:25:00.001-07:00

Here's a redback spider we spotted in the living room.

It was moving around a lot while I took these photographs but for no good. It was killed soon after as we can't risk it with our kids.

Caterpillars

2010-04-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

Praying mantises

2010-04-07T00:51:00.001-07:00

Creek spider

2010-04-05T23:56:00.001-07:00

Shingleback lizard and bearded dragon

2010-04-03T23:44:00.000-07:00

Ibis

2010-04-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

Apostle birds

2010-04-03T23:22:00.001-07:00

Mystery bug

2010-04-03T23:12:00.001-07:00

Could this be a weta? It was on the path leading down to Boundary Falls, between Glen Innes and Grafton.

Koala kapers

2010-03-14T04:09:00.000-07:00

These aren't my pictures, they came via an email. If they're your pics and you want me to delete them, then let me know.

I find these images interesting because koalas usually get the moisture they need from eucalyptus leaves. The 30 January 2009 was the hottest day in a heatwave and the koalas went looking for water elsewhere.

Urban magpie

2010-02-23T18:46:00.001-08:00

The Riverina's public enemy number one

2010-02-23T18:29:00.000-08:00

These prickles are the worst thing about the Riverina. Cat's head or cat eyes, dunno what they're called but anyone who's walked barefoot, owns a pet or children, rides a bike or scooter would know what I'm typing about.

The secret to destroying them is to recognise their yellow flowers and green leaves, easy to spot during the beige colours of summer, and pull them out. It also helps if you put the remains in a bin so that any prickles don't travel further than the local landfill.

Be my valentine

2010-02-13T02:13:00.000-08:00

G'day honey,

I shouldn't complain about the rain but it's spoiled the Valentine surprise.

Below is a pic of the rehearsal for the fly-by I'd organised for breakfast on Sunday.

It's for you who enlightens my days and sweetens my nights.

I love you my jo,

:j

Little jellyfish

2009-12-13T15:32:00.001-08:00

Gecko

2009-12-13T15:21:00.001-08:00

Baby dragons and music

2009-10-09T17:28:00.001-07:00

Wasp nation

2009-09-09T20:01:00.001-07:00

As I cropped this pic I thought it looked like a flag design.

Gallahs at Narrandera Common

2009-09-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

More pics of Narrandera Common here.

Kookaburras sharing a joke

2009-08-11T23:30:00.001-07:00

Flock of ibis

2009-08-11T23:27:00.000-07:00

View from the wires

2009-06-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

Click here for more about the wires, a large-scale aeolian harp.

Rat skull

2009-06-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

Zombie Attack!!!

2009-06-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

The red fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) was first detected in Brisbane during 2001 and triggered an eradication program that put all Australian states on notice. To date the red fire ant has not been detected in NSW, however the pest has been made notifiable under the Plant Diseases Act 1924 and any detection must be immediately reported to NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Red fire ants have the capacity to form 'super colonies' with multiple queens that can provide the ability to spread rapidly and develop extensive colonies. They are opportunistic feeders that are omnivorous and prey on invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants. They destroy seeds, harvest honeydew from specialised invertebrates and also scavenge. This can affect the whole ecosystem through reducing plant populations and competing with native herbivores and insects for food. For example, the ground-dwelling native bees and Thynid wasps are very 'species specific' and only pollinate native terrestrial orchids. Red Fire ants feeding on the orchids compete with the native bees and wasps, in addition pollination may not occur.

The red fire ant also has a nasty attack and groups will sting in synchrony, initiated by an alarm pheromone and the stings result in painful pustules, which may take weeks to heal.

Red fire ants were introduced into the United States of America in the late 1930s and have colonised over 275 million acres. One response was the introduction of a natural predator from their homelands. Scientists in Texas have introduced four kinds of phorid flies from South America to fight red fire ants. These USDA approved flies dive bomb ants and lay an egg inside the ant. The maggot hatches and eats away juicy tender delicious ant brain until the ant is nothing more than a zombie that wanders around for two weeks before the head falls off and the ant dies. A couple of these flies will cause the ants to modify their behaviour and this will be a very slow acting solution to curb the $1 billion in damage these ants do to Texas cattle ranches and — oddly enough — electrical equipment like circuit breakers.

This voodoo-style approach appears elsewhere in nature and, those not squeamish, might be interested to learn more about zombie cockroaches!!! This movie is particularly awesome.

And, thinking of zombie movies, here is an interesting chart showing how war and social upheavals cause spikes in the production of zombie-flavoured movies.

Cockroach toothpaste

2009-05-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

Spider eating dinner

2009-04-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

It's survival of the hungriest among the spiders in our shed and this one, as yet untitled, is the winner. She's been scaring the mice off the airconditioner where they live by waving her legs at them and, for a fortnight, was tracking her dinner in the shot above. There were some tense moments when the other female jumped off the wall to evade her eventual devourer.

More exciting than TV I'd guess since we don't watch any.

Fly-by

2009-04-01T23:22:00.000-07:00

Dragon at fence but ALIVE!

2009-03-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

Caterpillar

2009-02-19T21:36:00.001-08:00

Ant

2009-02-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

One of my hairy housemates

2009-02-13T01:20:00.000-08:00

Bearded Dragon - might be too young to grow a beard?!

2009-02-13T01:10:00.000-08:00

Just saw my first living bearded dragon for the year and it looks a lot like an older version of the only living one I saw around here last year.

When I first moved out here I saw a few of these and one was always around the yard. Lately I've found a couple dead and it saddens me.

Young roos at sunset

2009-02-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

Petrified frog

2009-01-18T00:49:00.001-08:00

Mummy long legs

2009-01-18T00:44:00.000-08:00

Kid Cicada

2009-01-18T00:41:00.000-08:00

Rosella rescue

2009-01-18T00:25:00.000-08:00

Spotted this fella while riding this morning.

Went home and got the camera plus the kids and Poppy, who donned the gloves and rescued the rosella.

He flew off okay so hopefully he'll live.

PS - Here's some more good karma

PPS - Here's an article about the threat to wildlife posed by barbwire that I've written for work:

Curb your barbs

Barbed wire, particularly when used as the top strand of a fence, poses a threat to many native species.

Back in the 1890s, a fencing census recorded 1.6 million kilometres of fences in NSW. Fencing historian John Pickard has estimated that tens of millions of kilometres of fences now subdivide the Australian landscape. In a national survey of 3,642 sites, Pickard found that 78 per cent of fences had barbed wire and 65 per cent had barbed as the top strand.

In September 2006 a headless Night Parrot was found in western Queensland. The cause of death was collision with a barbed wire fence. It came 17 years after the last sighting of this critically endangered bird. Prior to that, the Night Parrot hadn’t been sighted for more than 80 years.

There are 70 species that have been found entangled in barbed wire fences in Australia, including about 50 birds. Carol Booth, author of the Draft Barbed Wire Action Plan (2007), estimates a large toll for these creatures, between 100,000 and one million each year.

Most wildlife is caught on the top strands of a fence and most entanglements occur at night, suggesting that fences pose a significant threat for owl, bat and glider species. There are also hotspots for entanglement, such as around wetlands, creeks, food trees and along ridgelines.

Given the kilometres of existing barbed wire, it will require an enormous effort to reduce this threat to wildlife. Alternatives include placing split polypipe or used electric fencing tape on existing fences to improve visibility.

It’s thought that many graziers resist changing fencing methods, thinking there’s a risk in a new approach when barbed wire has worked for decades. However, highly tensioned plain wire is good for almost all situations. It’s cheaper, requires fewer fence posts and has a benefit in that it does not scar the hides of cattle, which potentially adds value. The title of a contribution to a Western Australian Department of Agriculture manual bluntly states ‘Plain wire works in pastoral areas’.

The Wildlife Friendly Fencing website proposes two options for improving fences: removing barbed wire or making the fence more visible. For more information visit www.wildlifefriendlyfencing.com/glines.htm

Epic battle

2008-12-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

This tussle between a wasp and a spider lasted nearly ten minutes and, despite what the pics show, the wasp won. I gather they use their prey to incubate their eggs and fed their young.

Locusts

2008-12-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

First snake of the season

2008-10-27T01:02:00.001-07:00

Battle for the bathroom

2008-10-27T00:55:00.000-07:00

Cicada

2008-10-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

More blue wren

2008-09-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

Blue wren

2008-09-03T03:12:00.000-07:00

Fumitory

2008-08-10T00:42:00.000-07:00

Burnt bunny

2008-08-10T00:38:00.001-07:00

This pest had made a home in one of the bonfires and came squealing out after its home was lit up. Keith thoughtfully waited until the kids had lost interest in looking at it to wring its neck.

Roos hopping off

2008-08-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wood duck

2008-06-27T18:26:00.001-07:00

Northern orb weaver

2008-06-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

Leaf boa

2008-06-03T02:49:00.000-07:00

Banksia

2008-06-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

Lantana

2008-06-02T21:39:00.001-07:00

Tadpoles

2008-06-02T21:32:00.001-07:00

Stinging thing

2008-06-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Brahminy kite

2008-06-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

Brahminy symmetry

2008-06-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

White breasted sea eagle

2008-06-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

Bustard

2008-06-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

Visit to Coffs Harbour Butterfly House

2008-06-02T20:15:00.000-07:00