Creatures A few of our visitors (click to enlarge). 
How many of these would you be happy to have on your hand?
In order: Huntsman spider, winged bullant (Myrmecia gratiosa), cockchafers, crickets x 2, praying mantis, Monarch butterfly (weighing 0.4 g), golden orb spider (weighing 4 g), cockroach, scorpion close up, scorpion (amazing under UV light), stick insect, orb spider, pobblebonk frog, grass frog, moth, dragonfly, hermit crab, earwig, bobtail skink x 2, Port Lincoln parrot, kangaroo (with joey in pouch), brush tailed possum with baby, kookaburra, spider, barn owl and red-capped parrot.

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And last the obligatory domestic dog, a Labradoodle (Labrador/Toy poodle cross!) called Milo.

I now have (2006) a new Sigma 180mm lens that has 1:1 macro ability giving both much better closeup and telephoto shots.

   
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Above, left photo shows a katydid cricket that I found dead but still photogenic.  Center photo shows a 4 inch gecko close up.   Right photo shows a "twenty-eight", Port Lincoln parrot.

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Above, left photo shows a Hoverfly on a daisy.  Center photo shows a bee in a bottlebrush.   Right photo shows a meadow butterfly.

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Above, left photo shows a damselfly.   Center photo shows two weevils being friendly in a banksia flower.  Right photo shows a not so friendly kangaroo tick sucking my blood.

   
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Above, left photo shows a wasp with a caterpillar snack.   Center photo shows a centipede.  Right photo shows a rather disgusting slug.

   
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Above, a few more bugs-on-fingers shots. Left photo shows a damselfly about to depart. Center photo shows a longicorn beetle and a curious cat. Apologies for the left handed photography.  Right photo shows a large wasp.

   
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Being a photographer experienced in bugs-on-hands, this time I let the wasp go on my left hand so I could hold the camera in the right (!)

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Above, ants come out at night to eat a small lizard.

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A big frog I found on my doorstep and a shot of the evil cat "Bubbles" when it brought in a rat it had caught.

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Saw this Rosenberg's monitor walking along  the road (not actually visiting).   He is about 3 feet long and eats snakes and skinks.  No time to set up the tripod.  Rumour has it that this fellow can mistake you for a tree and climb up you if startled.

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The left photo shows 1.3 second exposure and shows a variety of insects flying around a 500 W light in spring in rural Australia.  There is plenty of detail on the enlarged view showing the patterns made by the beating wings.  Center photo shows detail (0.4 sec) and the right photo shows the setting.

Spider drama 2008
This little drama played out in my shed on the side of an old white bucket.

The players include:
Spider A appearing first. A juvenile female redback only a few mm long belongs to a family of spiderlings presumably from the same brood that live on the side of the bucket. (The males are about 1/4 the size)
Spider B is a slightly bigger lighter colored female from the same brood.
The bug - alive but only intermittently making movements during the drama.

Above left.  Spider A has caught a huge bug (about 2cm) in her tiny web. The bug is only intermittently moving now and is being wrapped up.  A lot off excited running back an forth. Right shows the bug being lifted up.

Enter Spider B, probably big sister but still tiny compared to my finger tip.  Coming down to investigate the commotion.

Above, both spiders appear to cooperate in wrapping up the monster meal.  Suddenly, without warning Spider B turns on Spider A and starts to wrap her up. The hapless Spider A seems surprisingly passive.

I watch somewhat horrified as one sibling wraps up the other....

... and then takes the bug, painstakingly up to the rim of the bucket and her lair.

Above, back at the lair, evidence of past dastardly deeds, or so I thought.  Is there no honor among spiders?  Actually, this is probably a moult.  The bug is now stowed away.

But, hey, Spider A hasn't completely stopped struggling. After an hour she gets one leg free. After 2 hours she is free but still removing the wrapping thread.  On the right, next morning she is well and seems unharmed.  I was secretly hoping this would happen.  So a happy ending in a battle of big against small, good vs evil.  Unless you were the bug that is.

Spiders eyes 2010
If you walk down your drive in rural Australia using a headtorch you start to see things in a different light.  Tiny specks of light are reflected back to your eye.  So lets look closer.

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The little speck of light is reflected back from the eye of this nocturnal wolf spider. These are not compound eyes like insects but are better performing cup shaped eyes or ocelli some of which have a tapetum lucidum which gives the eyeshine seen with spotlighting.

  
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Generally only one of the eyes is seen but occasionally both show up. The ghostly image on the right is a photographic capture with a long exposure plus a flash.

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Above shows an even closer view of the 8 eyes.

 
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Above shows that it does not just occur with spiders.  Here is a lacewing that shows up similarly although not as brightly.  A nearby Orb spider had no eyeshine regardless of direction.  No doubt they rely much less on good eyesight.

Flowers 2007
I am not really into flowers but it is early spring and the bugs aren't out yet.

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A few 'Arty' shots.  2006   (click to enlarge)

                           
Moon bush   (5 sec exp)                                                                     Moon and fence (30 sec exp)

Highway lights in fog                                                                    Moon and bush with flash

  
"Hint of cows"  (count them). This is one of my favorite photos for its muted pastel colors with hidden detail.      

    
        Dawn Horses           

Country road at night (well actually my driveway).

Astrophotography 2006
Using a long exposure on my Nikon D70s with tripod and infrared remote switch I can get adequate light for pictures in starlight.

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The left photo shows a 5 minute exposure at night.  The closer trees are lit up by a house light and the clouds are lit up with a nearby town.   The center photo shows a 10 minute shot of the south celestial pole.  The central stars appear stationary. There is no pole star as in the northern hemisphere.  The right photo shows a 6 minute shot of the Milky Way.

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The left photo shows a 7 second exposure of the "Big Dipper" or Orion with my 180mm lens.  The fuzzy bit in the middle of the handle is the Great Nebula or M42.    The right photo shows a close up.  Even in only 7 seconds, the stars move appreciably.

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A 1% crescent moon and Venus makes for an interesting backdrop.

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Above is the "smiley moon".  On December 1st 2008, the moon, Venus (left) and Jupiter (right) formed a smiley face. Shot was taken with a small digicam, so not at a particularly good resolution. Only happens every 100 years or so apparently. This one was only visible for a few hours and only in the southern hemisphere.

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Satellites.  The International Space Station is shown here in a 4 second exposure on 4th March 09.

Comet McNaught Jan 2007

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The last shot of  Comet McNaught was taken in Bunbury Western Australia on 21/1/07 and took over an hour on my 3rd night to get the exposure, focus and composition right.  I was just about to shoot the "big one" when the sprinklers started on the grassed area I was on. I had to grab all my gear then come back, cover the sprinkler and recompose. An eventful night but I am reasonably happy with the shot. Always can find little faults and the comet was brighter and moon dimmer a few nights ago but then we had clouds  but they magically cleared just out of view for the final hour.  Having a person for perspective is so important
when you don't have a sense of scale. It was quite windy as you can see from the blurry bushes near the fence.

It was a 3 minute exposure hence the streaky stars. Chris (my son) was propped in a comfortable position against the post to reduce body sway in the wind which was moderate hence the blurred bushes. He was under strict instructions not to move a muscle or he would have to do it again. Sometimes (?often) teenagers are good at doing nothing

The foreground lighting is from sodium streetlights some distance away was about right although it gave a yellow cast which I haven't corrected for.

A couple of people have queried the "full" moon, but the glare of the crescent saturates everything. It is seen clearly with a 0.3 sec exposure as opposed to 3 minutes. Someone even sent me a photoshopped version with the crescent made visible.

The comet fan is not as visible as it was a few nights before and the moon does give a lot of light pollution now. There is also some light pollution from the suburb I was in and the local town/city of Bunbury. I did look at a few other spots that night but the fence was a big plus, still allowing views to the water for the moon reflections and also the distant town lights. The rightmost speck of light on the horizon is the Dunsborough
lighthouse.

The other problem was that the camera wasn't level. At these low light levels you don't see much through the viewfinder and I didn't pick it up in
the preliminary shots.

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My photo made it to the front cover of the Chinese Astronomical Journal, International Comet Quarterly and to page 3 of our local paper.

The best photo of the sky I have ever seen is this one from Antii Kemppainien which shows fireworks on Australia Day plus lightning from a nearby thunderstorm plus the comet in a gap in the clouds.

Miscellaneous 2006

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The left photo shows a 3 minute exposure of distant lightning over the sea.   The right photo shows distant lightning with a ground strike. In both photos the lightning was so far that thunder wasn't heard (but it wasn't raining either).

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Above: The sun through smoky skies from controlled burning.

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Above: Crowds gather for Australia day fireworks 26/1/2007. The blue explosives truck has unloaded the firework tubes which are set up in rows.

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Above: Australia day fireworks Jan 26, 2007 in Bunbury.

Current time and Temp in Perth, Western Australia