Preying Mantis

This rather wonderful creature was loitering by our front door earlier this week.  I think that Preying Mantis must be some of the most alien looking creatures that I see on a regular basis - and this 'other-worldness' was enhanced by the fact that the mantic turned its head around to watch me as I was taking these pictures.

Such encounters really do challenge the 'mindless automaton' vision of creatures other then human - this guys was very clearly checking me out!

You can find more macro shots at Macro Monday and I love Macro. 

The Light on the Hill

I have taken some picture of this building before - but this weeks 52Frames challenge was 'Magic Hour' - so this seemed perfect.

Also, this has not been a good week for inspirational political leadership - tax evasion, the rhetoric of hate and divisive funding decisions do not make for much confidence.  So, maybe, we need some Light on the Hill.

Fast Changing Sunset

This is a sequence of images taken over the space of about two minutes, which show just how fast the sky can change at sunset - all images have been treated in the same way, and have had very little done to them except having the horizon levelled.

You can find more sky shots at Sky Watch Friday.  SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 193 - Black-Fronted Dotterel

It will come as no surprise to anybody even vaguely familiar with me, that I managed to squeeze in a few hours birding while I was down on the Bellarine Peninsula last week.  Not a huge number of hours - too many other things to do! - but enough to get some sights and pictures for the next few weeks at least.

One place I always like to visit when I am in that part of the world is Lake Lorne.  This is a naturally occurring lake of about 12 hectares.  It normally has decent populations of water birds on it, especially when other areas are dry.  One day, I will get to sit by the water all day and see what comes along.  This time I was looking for, and found, Black-Fronted Dotterels - a wader that is often seen at the lake, often feeding on the exposed muddy edges.  And this is what 3 of these birds were doing when I found them.  A bit of creeping along on my knees - I think I may buy knee pads one day! - got me close enough for some pictures - although if anybody has a spare 600mm lens knocking around I'd be happy to take it off your hands.

The Black-Fronted Dotterel is more technically known as Elseyornis melanops and is widespread through Australia.  The fast dashing feeding motion of these birds made them rather difficult to keep in focus - or even in the viewfinder if the truth be told!  It was only when they stopped moving that I could frame them - hence these pictures are all rather similar.

Now its your turn - click the blue button and off you go!

An InLinkz Link-up

The edge of the Baie

Last week we all stayed in a cottage attached to the Baie Wines vineyard on the Bellarine Peninsula - and very good it was too!  Wonderful views out over Port Phillip Bay back towards Melbourne in one direction and out over farmland in another.

We were adopted by this rather splendid little dog almost as soon as we moved in - and with rather less than an original turn of phrase we named him Dogger!  He is the only dog I have ever met that did not understand the rules of 'fetch'!  He would collect sticks and balls with great enthusiasm, but then head off for home, with his new toy firmly clenched in his teeth!  He was often pursued by my kids, shrieking with laughter and outrage at the actions of this canine villain!

You can can find more shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

If you build it, they will come

I spent last week away from home, taking an Easter break down on the Bellarine Peninsula, a couple of hours from Melbourne.  We go there pretty often, but this time we stayed in a different location to usual.  (How dare somebody rent out the house we normally have instead of us!)

We stayed near an area called Curlewis, which, not that long ago, was basically all agricultural land.  Thats clearly not the case any more.

I found this empty road, which is called Hinterland Avenue (I'm not making this up!) rather strange and photogenic all at the same time.

I used these pictures for my weekly 52Frames project - with the theme being Negative Space.

Normal service will resume soon!