lens-artists photo challenge – Reflections of An Untidy Mind

Posted on June 8, 2023June 8, 2023 by Reflections of an Untidy Mind · 35 Comments

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?

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?

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

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.

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.

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 April 29, 2023April 30, 2023 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 April 22, 2023April 22, 2023 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 April 12, 2023 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 April 1, 2023April 1, 2023 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 December 23, 2022December 23, 2022 by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

At Last

Philosophy by photos.

Sometimes you have to start small, very small.

And sometimes things can get a little hairy.

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.

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 November 17, 2022November 18, 2022 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.

Posted on September 22, 2022September 22, 2022 by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Lens-Artists – Opposites

I am busy, busy, busy but I want to stay calm, calm, calm, so I have elected busy and calm as my sub-theme for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Opposites.

Inspired by lens artists across the world, I have joined a botanical photography group. How weird (for me) is that? In order to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, I have chosen photos that I have taken for that group to share with you.

Here are some busy little birds – firstly, a busy photo of a silvereye getting a dusting of wattle pollen, and secondly, a speckled warbler in a more serene green. We also have a front and back view as an added contrast.

Sticking with the busy bird theme because it is spring in Australia, here is another busy photo, this time of a New Holland honeyeater. It was quick but I was quicker snapping its photo in this native mistletoe (probably Amyema miquelii, but I am no expert). Mr Magpie is always good for a photo. “Hope you’ve got my best side,” he says. It is a harmonious contrast, don’t you think?

Moving on to all things botanical, a beautiful sheoak (possibly Allocasuarina verticillata) caught and held my attention. The coppery flowers stood out in the fading light. Bucolic, eh? Contrast the woodland veiled in copper with a single stem of this nodding blue lily (Stypandra glauca) set in silver. Pure harmony in opposites.

That’s my lot for this week, ladies and gentlemen.

I’ll leave you with this quote by yours truly, “Stay calm, stay strong and negotiate.” That’s pretty good. Someone must have said that before.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

PS. They are all my photos. I have to be a grown-up and take my own photos, rather than my True Love’s photos, to the photography group.

Posted on September 9, 2022September 9, 2022 by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Lens-Artists: Planes, No Trains & Automobiles

Just in case you were wondering, I am still here. It is quite some time since I’ve been anywhere. I certainly haven’t been everywhere, man.

I didn’t go to the Temora air show. Coincidentally, I was doing something else in Temora at the time of the air show. However, my lads jumped at the chance to attend so we made a weekend of it. The three of us camped at the airfield which was a novel experience. My True Love snapped a photo of this leering Spitfire. There is another air show coming up in October ’22 for fans of old war planes. Temora is a two hour drive from Canberra.

Too scary. Let’s look at some cars instead. The photo below of some stunt driving at Movie World is courtesy of my eldest son. The Movie World excursion was part of his band tour. We could never afford to take the kids and dogs on holidays. Probably because we were paying for music lessons, school fees, vet bills, etc.

My True Love and I eventually went road tripping and left the kids at home with the dogs. We took his and her cars. Only joking about the his and her cars. Now our boys are busy with their own careers so we are once again stuck at home with the dogs. I was envious of this pair that I saw travelling down the highway. Now that epitomises the spirit of adventure.

In 2019, we accidentally found ourselves at the Yass Classic Car Show. I understand that was the last classic car show organised by the founders of this popular event. A new classic car show under new management kicked off again this year. Anyhoo, my favourite car of the 2019 show was this steampunk makeover.