Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

What’s In A Garden?

It has been ages since I have taken part in the Lens Artists Photo Challenge, but since Ann-Christine asked this week “What’s in a garden?”, I thought, well, how hard can it be to take one photo that would suit? Fortunately, I took one photo yesterday that I quite liked but I had no one with whom to share it, so I thought why not share it with my lovely readers?

A place that I often visit when I am feeling untidy is our wonderful Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) here in Canberra. I have been feeling untidy for a while now so it was only a matter of time before I would find myself there again. As usual, I struggled getting a decent photo so I was absolutely stoked to come home with this nice bird photo that required no editing to make it look decent. The bird was in a garden so it met the criteria, don’t you agree?

I had to use Photoshop to brighten up the next two photos. The following plant was flowering in the rainforest garden. The rainforest garden was created completely from scratch when the ANBG was established. The rainforest is such a haven for birds, animals and people when city temperatures soar. It was a pleasant 17oC when we were there.

I think the plant in the next photo is Hardenbergia violacae. It was so lovely and delicate, glinting red where the sun fell on the twining stems. We saw many plants in bud, so if you happen to be in Canberra (Australia) over the next month, the floral displays at the ANBG are sure to be even more spectacular and well worth a visit. A tip – I much prefer the somewhat dishevelled, natural gardens up the hill rather than the more manicured, curated gardens that are on the lower levels.

Finally, a photo from today’s visit to my son’s house. This was the first day that all three dogs had visited him at the same time. They had fun and Ama tried to eat a lot of sticky weed. That, and the fake grass, has gotta go. I suspect there will also be some other modifications to make it more of a haven for small woodland birds. All in good time.

I hope you enjoyed my garden tour. Please visit Ann-Christine’s post here to see all the fabulous garden examples from her many contributors.

Take care everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Empty Space

A late entry for Patti’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Empty Space. I think the emphasis is on negative space in the photo below. Close enough. Naturally, this photo was taken by my True Love.

Into the Empty
Seeking the apex of all that life has to offer.
A chance to thrive, a chance to fall.
Thunder beats a primal rhythm.
Stretch your wings and ride the wild sky.


The queen ants fly into the wide blue yonder.

Take care, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Lens-Artists Challenge – Filling The Frame

Today I thought I would share some fairly ordinary photos in response to the Lens-Artists Challenge hosted by Anne of Slow Shutter Speed this week. For this week’s challenge, Anne has chosen the theme of Filling The Frame. I’ve told myself all I have to do is take the photos. They don’t have to be good. How hard can it be?

Anyway, I’m not a fan of my phone camera so I thought I would take a few photos with that. My phone is mostly stuffed down my bra so it is readily available. With some effort, I could even explore some of the camera functions.

Let’s start off with the garden. Because of our rodent problem we had to fence off some of the backyard from the dogs. Over winter, the warrigal greens consequently managed to populate a good section of the fenced off area. Not bad for a plant that apparently does not like frost. By the way, my True Love managed to evict the rats from the ceiling and wall cavities. Or perhaps it was just too hot for the rats inside the inner recesses. No aircon.

And again. Full frame this time.

I’m feeling a bit like Fynnie. Here he is growling at Makea because she happened to glance his way. I think Fynnie might be depressed or a psychopath.

What else have I got here? Oh yeah, I went to the dentist and took a snap of our city centre while I was in town. Also, I like tiles. The dirt just adds to the patina.

I fiddled with the tone in the phone camera and got something quite true to colour for once. A learning experience.

Thanks to all the gracious people who have put up with my depressed sarcasm. So now for the good stuff in appreciation of your support – a few bird photos taken by my True Love.

When the sign says “Swooping Bird”, one tends to think of magpies or masked lapwings, not Collared Sparrowhawks. This photo was cropped to within an inch of its life. And I thought I was unhappy!

Here it is again a bit further away among the trees that are filling the frame. Beats going to the dentist even if the sparrowhawk does swoop you.

A female Red-Rumped Grass Parrot.


Now the male.


I would like to thank Anne for her choice of theme this week. I really did enjoy it.

Take care, everyone.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – What’s Bugging You?

When my family got involved in the regeneration of our local woodland, I never imagined that one of our tasks would be to photograph the insects in that space. My True Love (TL) needed little encouragement as he already had an interest in insects. Suffice to say, he has found it extraordinarily difficult to get these small creatures in focus. The wind seems to blow constantly and the insects make haste to avoid being eaten or to eat others. Kudos to all the insect photographers out there. I’m not one of them. You have to take lots of photos to get one or two in focus, at least my TL does on his particular camera. Anyway, today I am featuring a few of the photos my TL has taken over the last six months. Let’s get started.

Bug eyes.

Purple-winged mantid – Tenodera australasiae

What do you think? Spider egg sacs?

Two-tailed spider egg sac?


Beetles seem to be the favourite prey of many insects, although to be strictly accurate, spiders are not insects.

Diamondback comb-footed spider – Cryptachaea veruculata

Apparently the Cerceris, or digger, wasp likes beetles too. My TL is lucky enough just to get the photo of the wasp, so no beetles were eaten in this photo. Cute, don’t you think?

Cerceris wasp – Cerceris sp. (genus)

My TL also took some photos of cuckoos. How about this tiny cuckoo wasp? It is only about 4-5mm long and super fast.

Cuckoo Wasp – Primeuchroeus sp. (genus)

And a Chequered cuckoo bee. Seriously, there is such a thing.

Chequered Cuckoo Bee – Thyreus caeruleopunctatus

Halictad bees are also tiny. At least, these ones are. The first one has just emerged from a tiny Wahlenbergia, our native bluebell, and the second is roosting in some grass.

Halictid Bee – Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) lanarium


My TL tried to take some photos of meat ants launching their queens. But it was a bit hard to get them in focus. I was hollering in the background because the ants were biting me as they were scrambling up my jeans. Definitely had ants in me pants. We had to move away quickly. I thought I would have to drop my dacks on the track to get them out. Just imagine if other walkers had came across a man doing the same thing? He probably would have got into some serious trouble for being a flasher. Anyway, back to the photos – a meat ant pushing a lump of dirt downhill.

Meat Ant – Iridomyrmex purpureus

Speaking of beetles being eaten alive …. We know ants gotta eat, but my TL nevertheless rescued this beetle. The ants would not let that poor beetle go. My TL had a devil of a job freeing it. You have got to be joking if you think I am going anywhere near those ants.


Well, I can’t leave you traumatised so I will finish off with this lovely photo of a Yellow Admiral butterfly on a scribbly gum.

Yellow Admiral Butterfly – Vanessa itea

Thank you to Donna from Wind Kisses for coming up with this theme. It is probably the only subject that I can talk a lot about but don’t have to do any of the work to bring the images to you.

Now bugger off (Aussie slang for “Off you go.” No offense intended.)

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Lens-Artists: Still Life

For the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Still Life. This week’s challenge is hosted by Patti. Thank you, Patti. If you are a lover of photo challenges and the Still Life art genre, check out Patti’s post here.

Still Life art often portrays a created scene/image of inanimate objects, but Patti gives us plenty of leeway to explore different types of still life images, not only the traditional “created” arrangement, but also “found” still life scenes–which we might discover in store windows, in a garden or museum, or just about anywhere. That is good for me because my photo archive is remarkably devoid of created Still Life images. Let’s get on with it.

I am often filled with wonder by the way Still Life images pay homage to ordinary objects. Attention to the small details matter in this art form. Perhaps it is the impermanence and fragility of the scene that I find so wistful.

I have chosen two photos from my archives that I think convey that sense of fragility and impermanence.


Next is a recent photograph I took. Though it be a contradiction, Still Life portraiture can also depict death. Here I have attempted to pay homage to the life that once was. Nature creates life but also takes it away.


It is your moment now, readers.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Positive Thinking

For the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Environments. This week’s challenge is hosted by Tina. Thank you, Tina.

***

Sometime it is easy to forget that I live in the burbs. But then I return to reality.

However, I am soon cheered up by a change of scenery in the garden. Probably too subtle for some chaps.

I know this is a photo challenge but we definitely need a song. Let’s have a listen to LaTasha Lee singing Think On. Go, girl.

Be kind, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Glowing With Pride

This week I am joining in the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge which is hosted by a bunch of bright sparks, including guest host, Siobhan from Bend Branches. The theme for this week’s challenge is Glowing Moments. If you are keen on photo challenges, check out Siobhan’s post here.

My True Love has been taking some lovely photos lately, hence I thought I would showcase a few of his interesting (to me) photos. Let’s start with one of his recent arty farty shots.


Since I complained about the Blue-Banded Bee nipping me between my toes, my TL has been stalking these little creatures to get a nice close-up of their mandibles. Check ’em out. In the overall scheme of life, they are very small mandibles, built for respite and cause no lasting harm.


My TL has now gone a little insect crazy. Nothing wrong with that. He spotted a Tailed Emperor (Charaxes sempronius) in our garden. We’ve never seen one before so it was a pretty exciting moment. The Tailed Emperors are not rare but neither are they common. We learnt that they feed on fermenting fruit. Yum, yum.


My TL also set up a night trail camera in the backyard. The fig tree has been attracting a lot of critters, including Grey-Headed Flying Foxes. Can you see the flying fox’s eyes glowing in the dark?


I’ll finish off with one of my favourite, bittersweet, photos that he took in the summer of 2019.

Flame Robin – Namadgi National Park (2019)


We live in interesting times with interesting people. Perhaps I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Take care, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

The Little Things

As a new landcarer, every day is a learning experience for me. Today a group of us got stuck into some weeding down at our local park. It was a chilly morning but we were soon stripping off our layers when the autumn sun broke through the trees. There was so much to see and hear. It was wondrous and fun.

I’ve recently spoken to several park users who have noticed an increase in the number of butterflies and birds since our woodland began its transformation from mowed urban open space to wildlife sanctuary. Today’s high point was when my True Love encountered two native bees that we hadn’t seen before in the park – the blue-banded bee (Amegilla sp.) and the chequered cuckoo bee (Thyreus caeruleopunctatus). Of course, we have blue-banded bees in our own home garden because they love salvia, but I’ve never seen one at the park where thankfully there is no weedy escapee salvia in sight! Awesome. Then to top off the day, the discovery of not one, but two, chequered cuckoo bees was a delightful surprise because neither my TL or I had seen that species before. And they were all together. How cosy! Let’s have a look at them.

The BBBs are solitary bees. The female makes a burrow in soft soil (eg. earth bank) or sometimes soft mortar to lay her eggs (or maybe it is just one egg. I’m not sure). The cuckoo bee parasitises the nest of the BBB. Apparently, it is unusual for the BBBs to roost with cuckoo bees. Anyway, here they are just chilling out together on a a blade of grass as the day warms. I have it on reliable authority (thanks Canberra Nature Mapper experts) that the BBB in this photo is a male.

Bee your kindest self. I must remember that now that I’ve chopped off the less flattering part of this park care story.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

At Last

Philosophy by photos.

Sometimes you have to start small, very small.

Insect eggs on a blade of grass.

And sometimes things can get a little hairy.

Hairy Appleberry (Billardiera scandens)

Sometimes it is best to sway with the breeze.

Red Anther Wallaby Grass (Rytidosperma pallidum)

Every year is different, not yours to decide.

The blossom of the Olearia phlogopappa survives a small hailstorm, unlike the previous two years.

Stop for sustenance,

Crimson rosella eats the bluebells growing on my verge.

Speak, but also listen.

Currawong chicks

Your time will come to shine.

Daviesia mimosoides – my landcare group has planted two seedlings in the park.
Hopefully they will survive and grow as beautiful as this one.

This is my last chance to participate in the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge for 2022. This week’s theme is Last Chance and the brief is to publish for the first time some favourite photos taken during 2022. All but one of the photos was taken in my garden or my local park. Many thanks to the Lens-Artists hosts for their hard work and thoughfulness, and also to you, dear Readers, for joining me here.

Happy holiday, everyone, and see you next year.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

The Chicks Are Down

Or at least one of them is. There are four. The magpie parents are very busy.

This week Anne has chosen the theme of Wildlife Close to Home for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. Here is my contribution.

Let’s start with a couple of images of said magpie chick and his dad.

I am never one to let a snappy title get in the way of more wildlife photos. Here are another couple of bird shots from our local wetland.

And returning home, it’s the birthday girl – the wiley Ama. She threw up this morning, probably because of all that grassy hail she ate yesterday or perhaps to make room for birthday ice cream.

I hope you are all well, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve been getting a drenching in sunny Canberra (Australia), although not as much as a little further northwest where it is an absolute catastrophe.

Take care of yourselves and our world.

Kind Regards.
Tracy Rail.