Friday, January 30, 2009

A Mega Moth


As a child I was always getting in trouble for leaving the light on at night.
It wasn't that I was afraid of the dark.
It was that I found if I left the fly screen slightly ajar I could find moths caught there for study in the morning.
Once in a while I would capture a monster of the moth world. The ones with the "eyes" on the wings were particularly fascinating.

The moth photographed below wasn't overly pretty, though it was reasonably large
(around 120mm head to wing end).
Perhaps the largest I have seen in a while.

I have no open wing shots, as it would have required damaging the creature to get them. Never an option.

I have looked on the CSIRO site do deal with all things "mothy", though couldn't get a good ID.
For those of you who share a fascination of these creatures, interesting none the less.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Aliens arrive

Its official..Aliens have arrived!
These shots of crop circles taken today are proof positive of extraterrestrial intervention.



Well, not exactly :)
These strange shapes in the lawn I believe to be caused by spiders



These "nests" are between 300- 800mm in diameter, and kill the grass within the tangle of web.




In the morning dew I have seen such webs from spiders before, though never to such effect.
I feel that a mass of spiderlings have hatched somewhere in the centre and have spread out.
I am not 100% sure on this...and am open to correction :)

So, no need to call the "men in black", 'cause the aliens are terrestrial after all :)

UPDATE 04.02.09:
I have had a few confirmations, along the lines of the comment by Denis Wilson, that the growth is of a fungal nature.
The "outbreak" occurred after heavy rain and humid conditions.
The circles have not grown any larger since this original post, though the grass has died fully, and green regrowth is spreading from the centre.
Very strange.
I have another yellow fungi that has appeared in the garden that is most unusual, and will try to do a post on it today.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Sea waves, Sand waves and Light waves

Last year around June the world powerboat circumnavigation record was broken
by the vessel pictured below. Earthrace.



Built from Carbon fibre, it is designed as a wave piercing trimaran.
Cutting through the waves, the windscreen designed to withstand 7M of water above it, it runs on bio diesel, and is extremely enviro friendly ( and an exiting ride).
Arriving as it did on Jan 19Th this year in Bermagui provided for some interesting shots and discussions with the crew.
It has been touring the world, with over 150,000 visitors on board to date, promoting enviro design through development of ideas.

The following waves are quite different.
The Ant lions trap, pictured in the following 3 shots, is constructed at an angle to allow passing insects to be drawn to the bottom of the funnel through the action of sand flicked at the prey by the Ant lion below.







And yet another type of waves.
The light waves returning from this orchid are no doubt registering in the ultra violet to signal potential pollinators.
It is very attractive in the visual spectrum also.



Does any one know the pollinator?

Sunday, January 25, 2009

More good rainfall

Huge storms have kept things green and cool over summer last week.
With not the best lightning shots in hand, I still thought it worth a post due to the great rainfall received.
One storm even dumped a mass of hail in Bermagui that was enough to make it look like snowfall had occurred ( you should ALWAYS carry a camera :P )




With recent trips to Canberra and surrounds, I observed last weeks storms from various areas and noted them all to be small in size though full of potential and numerous.
It was possible to bask in sun and extreme temperatures and watch an electrically charged torrent pass by.
This following picture, though not showing strikes, illustrates well the size of these storms.
As it passes, stars are visible with the clouds lit by the frequent discharges of electricity.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Return from Summer Break

Well this Summer Break proved to be one of interest with friends and relatives over from Europe.
They were all surprised( including my side of the family) to find out that Petra and I had gone off to " tie the knot " 4 weeks earlier up at Carrington Falls in a small personal ceremony with 2 friends to act as witnesses for our great day....hey call it artistic expression.



Congrats to RayRay on the shots...you didn't do bad at all mate :)

...Anyway, once everything had settled down(lol) it was time for a little Aussie tour.
What better place to start than the roof of Australia....



Insects will live almost everywhere, and the warmer months of this Alpine environment are alive with a variety of forms.



It was cool, although the sun was quite hot.
There was even some scattered snow on the peaks...



Another national park we visited was the first such park in the world.
Royal National Park, just south of Sydney, has recovered well from the 90 percent burn of 2000.
The heath lands have greened remarkably from the ashen state I saw after the fires.
Audley is a good spot for a picnic with a friendly ranger pointing out this little guy...An Eastern Dwarf Tree frog. At around 1cm in length, its aptly named.


The Eastern coast of Australia holds many environments, and species...Including birds such as this King Parrot.


... and these huge orb weavers with circular webs over 2m in diameter






Coastal birds..like these pelican... travel way inland top have their young, only to return in warmer months for the great fishing of the far south coast.



Yep...good fishing down here :)



Hoping all had a good Xmas, and a Happy New Year.
May this year be prosperous and safe.