Today's pretty rock was brought in from the cold (well, the nice sunshine actually) where it normally resides as one of the outside rocks on the edifice formerly known as the barbeque.

( Read more... )

We've met Coryphistes sp. - Bark-Mimicking Grasshopper before but last night I came across one on the inside of the house. It obligingly stood quite still while I took some pictures of all the dust and cat fur gathering at the edge of our tiles.

( Read more... )

I hope the presence of water snails in my pond is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. They've bred recently but I assume the fish will keep their numbers under control. That might explain their drop in appetite recently. Certainly the baby snails are well within mouthful range, and they strike me as something a carnivorous fish would really go for.

( Read more... )

The problem with living things is they have this terribly inconvenient tendency to move about. I saw these wasps coming to drink at my pond, so I thought I would try and catch a shot while they were briefly still. A tricky proposition because the camera's macro mode is not kind to moving subjects, but there was plenty of light so I gave it a go.

( Read more... )

Managed to get a single clear shot of a black spider outside Sector 7 this afternoon. Hoping to get a closer more focused shot I tried getting creative with my little tripod by bracing it against the ceiling and shooting upside down, but I must have frightened my subject off by my efforts. This is what I got:

( Arachnophobes beware )

I was having an immensely grumpy day but as I left the house late in the evening to buy drugs and milk (pharmacy was closed, then forgot the milk) I was immeasurably cheered by the sight of a large bug just outside the door. The good news: it sat still. The bad news: the light was pretty low. The weird news: I'm a bit mystified by some of the ( Read more... )

Not long ago I saw a praying mantis laying eggs. Today I had a look at the egg case and it seems the babies have hatched. Mostly.

( Read more... )

See that subject line? You have been warned. Found this charming beastie in my carport just now. She's very very big. And very very chunky. At first I was impressed at how much anatomical detail I managed to capture, but then reconsidered my fortune for she was about three feet across after all. For the photo buffs I was using my Panasonic DMZ-LZ1 ( Read more... )

Slugs as seen on the side of my pond this fine--albeit spectacularly unspectacular--New Year's dawn 2012.

( Read more... )

Tonight in the shadows around the bins at Sector 7 I saw not another giant spider, but a giant praying mantis, and as a bonus it looked very much like she was laying eggs. Baby praying mantises are very cute.

( Read more... )