Autumn Harvest

With the onset of colder weather bird life of all sorts has been taking advantage  of the still plentiful insect population.

When cutting the lawn the other day I was amazed how many wolf and grass spiders I disturbed.

This little guy was a little nervous of my macro.

Out in the surrounding fields the spider population is such that these Heron were catching a spider a minute in the long grass .

Mice are also plentiful and keep us busy blocking the ingress points they keep finding; my snake "mittens" driven insane by the scent trails that are painfully obvious to him in his pre winter feed mode.

Its all part of living in an area laden with wildlife though.

I'm looking forward to catching up again with naturalist Denis Wilson over the next week to study the local forest and should have some interesting posts on that distinctive environment to follow soon.

A coastal treck

It was good to have Denis come down for another visit last week.
It gave me an opportunity to share some of the wilder parts of the territory in which I live.


Hidden coves with mountainous surrounds, riddled with treacherous slippery rocks is where we went.
I'm sure the scenery was worth it :)

These rock pools, with vivid red anemone were a good find.
They show the way in which the creature retracts its tentacles when faced with violent seas and the waterless conditions that it endures.



This Striated ( or Mangrove) Heron was a little shy of the camera.
Possibly due to the fact that he usually seen this far down the NSW coast.


As was this White Faced Heron.


Though, with careful stalking, I was able to get close enough for this shot.



Yes, an eventful trip that saw two weary photographers glad to be home.



We have yet to track down the elusive Death Adders that live down here.
Perhaps that will have to wait for another visit :)