
Macro Monday – 15 August

The Lens-Artists Challenge#171: Weird and Wonderful
I may have a few things that could be weird and wonderful. A slideshow may be best
I thought I would do a reblog of an old post for the Ragtag Daily Prompt: Trail
I will do a bit of an edit as there was a mistake in the original
A while ago I commented how my girls liked to make the caterpillar train go into a circle. Well, yesterday, driving home, on the road outside of my place, a caterpillar train was crossing the road. I had to stop to make sure they got across the road safely, albeit with a slight detour. They are Ochrogaster lunifer or Processional Caterpillar
The caterpillar train stretched around three meters across the road
The leader seemed to know where to go.
They march nose to tail. Wouldn’t the one in front tickle your nose?
“Somehow” the leader “wanted” to join in the train somewhere
You aren’t allowed to push in the train.
Once you are out, it is hard to get back in.
Soon the train was in a bit of a circle with knots of caterpillars forming
They do try to find some semblance of order
Soon the circle became broken with a knot of caterpillars at the front
I am sure they were trying to elect a new leader
They are really hairy aren’t they?
Election over, the leader decided to get the caterpillar train back on track to find a Fringe Wattle, their favourite food on my place.
NOTE: Do not touch these caterpillars as they can cause a skin rash that can last a while.
NOTE: No caterpillars were harmed in this photo shoot
This is another double up post. There is Cee’s Mid Week Madness Challenge: January Close Up
and Beckys Square Photo Challenge #SquareUp
Here is a bit of smooth to scroll to
OK, so lets get into a bit up close
A Eucalypt flower
This is a Hawk Moth Caterpillar I think
Dragonflies can look fearsome up close can’t they?
A tiny Begonia flower
and an Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly on a Pentas flower
Sunshine’s Macro Monday #36
The pupa or chrysalis of a Common Crow Butterfly
This is the Common Crow Caterpillar
This is the Common Crow Butterfly
The word prompt from Frank at Dutch goes the Photo: Connections
I was wondering how many connections I could find.
The inspired quote from Debbie at Travel With Intent
“Green is the prime colour of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.” – Pedro Calderon de la Barca
I am having difficulty in finding the right image from nature. So much of my world is green. Maybe I should just jump in and pick a few that show the loveliness of nature.
The green on green that hides a Grasshopper
The subtle green of a Small Green-banded Blue Butterfly
The green loveliness of the countryside
A Hawk Moth Caterpillar from which loveliness arises
Bringing it’s own special loveliness, a Green Catbird wonders
The special loveliness of Green Tree Frogs spreading smiles
You will be pleased to know that this month I have been picky in choosing what to put on my April post. This is not a marathon so maybe you won’t need a drink and a snack to get to the end.
Let’s get going then.
It’s just a leaf I found. I just love the colours.
There is a whole ecosystem on this fungi
Down the hill from from the above fungi, a whole miniature forest was growing.
I love the sunsets and these grass seed heads.
More grass seed heads against the late afternoon sky. The camera knows how to lie as these aren’t very big.
One of my favourite garden flowers – Cats Whiskers
I don’t know the name of this flower. We call it The Pink Thing. Bees love disappearing inside of the bell or where the flower joins the stalk.
The small flowers of the Bangalow Palm are waiting to burst out. The outer casing had fallen off early in the morning and the palm was full of buzzing bees.
Trying to get some bee photos I didn’t realise I have taken photos of little Dwarf Eastern Tree Frogs. I don’t know if they were hunting bees or other insects
I only found these two but I am sure there were many more among the hanging stalks.
The snail was having a good time exploring the leaf
I found an interesting looking Shield Insect walking along the electric fence tape.
The Caterpillar was quite disturbed at my presence as you can see the red warning bits shooting out. It certainly made short work of the small bush lemon tree’s leaves.
Just a bee getting some nectare and pollen from the Singapore Daisy flower.
In the Fan Palm, I saw a black shape. Now I am sure I will be careful around the palm with Paper Wasps setting up a nest.
I think this is a Lemon Migrant Butterfly among the purple flowers.
I have lots of photos of Brown Ringlets but none taken from the underside. It was almost like a mother of pearl shining in the sunlight.
The Orange Palm Dart flitted around the Pentas flowers.
There is always someone who pokes their tongue out when a photo is being taken.
I seemed to have an obsession in April with spiders webs. The sun glowing gave the web a golden sheen.
This web was damaged by the rain leaving little gems of water on the web.
Some webs were so traditional looking. The tiny spider sat waiting for someone to get snared.
This is a first for me. An Eastern Curlew was walking about the Gulls and Terns.
Some Pelicans had a snooze while others got on with the washing.
This bloke was a bit late but glided in to try and find a spot on the sand bar.
A Lewins Honeyeater was scanning the Fan Palm for something to eat.
The Yellow-faced Honeyeaters loved the bird bath on a warm Autumn day.
After their bird bath, a couple of Red-browed Firetail Finches sat about doing their laundry.
This Red-browed Firetail Finch showed his firetail
A couple of Buff-rumped Thornbills contemplated going into the water
I am sure the Spangled Drongo was ignoring me.
I have been looking for Royal Spoonbills to photograph for ages. I spied a couple in a flooded park in the middle of Ballina. Not in a wetland as I expected but in town with cars whizzing by. A couple of people wondered what I was doing as they went past.
Don’t my orange eyebrows give me a certain something.
I couldn’t not have a post without a photo of everyones favourite Northern Yellow Robin, our little regular garden visitor, Bobbin.
Thanks for stopping by. Did you have a favourite or two?
Oh dear, another month of photos that is too big. I think I should do a week at a time. I haven’t included the photos from the other posts, just a couple I think. It was a weird month. The days were the usual February hot to very hot days with the rain finally appearing at the end of February.
Perhaps, as usual, a cup of tea or a drink of choice, get comfy and I hope you get to the end without nodding off.
This time I am starting off with insects so those who have an aversion to spiders, moths or flies get your scrolling finger ready to zip past some fantastic photos lol
I found a tiny hairy caterpillar who looked so unusual. Yes I did get a bit close with the lens and the centre section did get a bit squashed by the lens
I surprised a small spider. She ran out to defend her egg nest
Even a hornet has to have a drink on a hot day
One of the more unusual grasshoppers I have at my place
These flies like to bite. The bit of the proboscis that is hanging down has a spike sheathed inside. The other dagger like thing is the antennae. The angle makes them look fierce.
You can see why the fly is angry all the time and wants to bite. A bit of baldness can make anyone cross.
With all the places in the garden to hatch out, these cicadas chose the same leaf
The Line Blue Butterflies had a monopoly in some parts of the garden. This tiny one found a quiet place to sit for a while
A moth, we call a tiger moth, really loved the scent of the Murraya flowers
Looking at a Crow Eggfly Butterfly who was looking at me
This Dragonfly has been in a mud puddle I think
Such a dainty tiny Dragonfly
The fig tree has so many figs which the birds love
Isn’t this Wood Fungus lovely
An old fashioned Hibiscus flower. This is one of the smallest Hibiscus flowers in the garden.
The Leopard Lillies liked the hot weather
So did the Ginger flowers
The Lilli Pilli bush doesn’t flower that much but when it does isn’t it spectacular?
Onto Animals which includes a couple of Python photos so snake phobes get ready to whizz past some really beautiful photos
As it was hot, the Carpet Python came out from the roof space and stretched along the rafter. It must have been quite warm so close to the corrugated iron
When the weather was a bit cooler, the Python managed to knot up into a smallish ball. This is about 2 meters of snake all rolled up
When it was a too hot, the Python decided that Charlies little pond was a cool place to be. Charlie didn’t care and swam about the snake while the snake ignored Charlie thankfully.
Charlie also had another unwelcome visitor. How ugly are Cane Toads?
Enough of ugly, here is some cute. Early one morning, a couple of Yellow-footed Antechinus were hopping around the verandah
When I went into the shed, I disturbed some Lesser Long-eared Bats. Aren’t their little feet lovely?
We are now in the bird zone so those who have been rushing past the previous photos can relax now
A great way to spend part of a hot day is in one of the many bird baths scattered around the place. A Grey Fantail contemplating a plunge
A Variegated Fairy Wren checking out the mosaic bird bath
The little Thornbill jumped straight in, splashing about
A Red-browed Firetail Finch just dunked under to cool off
A Jenny Wren looked on from the safety of the bushes
A Spangled Drongo was looking for some grubs in the Poinciana tree after his dip in the bird bath
The Eastern Yellow Robin took his usual lookout on the garden chair to scan the garden for dinner
We wondered who was making a mess on the car doors early in the morning. I finally was able to catch the culprit – a Green Catbird
This White-headed Pigeon was on lookout at the bird bath while its young one had a drink of water
One morning there was a terrible sound in the garden. There were Ravens calling and flying about. I finally spotted a Channel-billed Cuckoo young who was being raised by the Ravens
The birds were all calling out, making a real noise in the garden. I finally spotted the culprit who set them off. A Pacific Baza was sitting in a tree. Nearby another two were calling as well. They bought their young one to check out the garden.
When I go outside I always look up as often a Wedged-tailed Eagle or two will be wheeling about looking for an unsuspecting snack
I think I was lucky to have everything just right to capture this spiders web. The Primrose flowers add a splash of colour
The door latch from the Cathedral in Grafton. It doesn’t look very worn so I don’t think it is the original but looked quite good enough to photograph
I loved the lighting in the loungeroom one night
Thanks for your staying power. Enjoy a sunset
...out of a digital shoebox
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