We have a new contributor today, Ben Batt (and his cat), who sent a bunch of lovely photos from Oz, including two of his cat. Ben’s notes:
These photos were all taken at my parents’ home in the tiny town of Ruffy, in country Victoria, Australia. They have spent the last 30-odd years cultivating a large garden, which provides a habitat for many different species of birds and other small animals.
New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae). These are very busy birds, constantly flitting between flowers and checking their surroundings for danger. I like their rather insane-looking eyes, and the amount of attitude they seem to have.
Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans):
Striated Thornbill (Acanthiza lineata):
Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris). Very attractive birds, but constantly on the move, so I’ve found them quite hard to photograph. This photo was taken as the bird paused for a brief moment just before bathing. They sometimes hover to feed on flowers, which I hope to someday get a photo of:
White-naped Honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus). This was the only time I’ve ever seen these birds in Ruffy; I suspect they may have been passing through on their annual migration to the south.
A male Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris) that was involved in a shouting match with another male off in the distance somewhere. Just after I took this photo, the other male flew in and dive-bombed him, and they both flew off having an aerial battle.
As I was trying to find him, I came across the female listening intently:
Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa). This little flycatcher was using a fence and the associated small trees as vantage points, watching for insects and periodically darting out to snap one up:
Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica). These birds are quite alert and cautious, but they seem to have learnt that humans don’t pose a threat – this one came right up to within a metre of me:
Bluebottle/Blue Ant (Diamma bicolor). We always called these bluebottles when I was growing up, but apparently Blue Ant is the more common name. They’re actually wasps: the wingless female hunts beetle larvae and other ground-dwelling insects to paralyse as hosts for her larvae, while the smaller male has wings and carries the female aloft during mating. Adults of both sexes feed mainly on nectar.
Hamilton’s Orb Weaver (Araneus hamiltoni):
A Common Paper Wasp (Polistes humilis) working on its nest:
Garden skink (Lampropholis guichenoti)? I’m not completely certain of the species ID here. This one looks like it has dropped and regrown its tail at some point, perhaps due to a close encounter with Oscar [the cat]:
I haven’t been able to confidently identify the following arthropods. If anyone can suggest good online resources for Australian insect and spider identification, I would be grateful!
Crane flies (family Tipulidae) procreating.
Lesser Brown Blowfly (Calliphora augur)?:
A shield bug of some kind?:
Robber Fly (family Asilidae):
Flower Spider (Diaea evanida)?:
This is Oscar, the resident feline. He grew up in the city (Melbourne), and moved to Ruffy when his original staff moved overseas. He was quite goofy and inept at first, but has now learnt the ways of a country cat and is very comfortable in his domain. I like how surly he looks in this photo, but he is actually very good-natured and friendly.
He spends most of his time sleeping:
A terrific series of very interesting photos. Well done!
If you double click on the blue bottle to enlarge it, one can see your reflection repeated on each of the body segments. That is one shiny insect!
Wow, you’re right.
One more “enhance” and we could see the blue bottle reflected in the camera lens.
Haha, yes – I was wondering if anyone would notice my accidental self-portrait!
Lovely fly pictures!
Wonderful photos!
Lovely birds and lovely Oscar.
Nice set of photos.
I was going to say wonderful, but Karen beat me to it! Thanks for these – I really enjoyed them.
Oscar reminds me of a little silly scifi cat tale of “The Cat-Quest of Mu Mao The Magnificent” by Elisabeth Ann Scarborough!
Sorry, it’s a fantasy of course, not scifi.
Very good cat photos…and all the others are excellent.
The pics are terrific.
One worry … I hope the cat does not bother the birds!
Great photos. One of my strongest memories of Australia is the birds. Glorious birds!
I always love bird photos from Australia…so much diversity. The insects are great too.
Oscar, though a male, looks to me like a lioness…esp. the sleeping photo. Beautiful cat!
As a kid, while fishing on an old suspension bridge, I got stung in the middle of the back by a common paper wasp.
Looking at that picture, I can feel the sting and smell that bridge.
Yes, strange how it all comes back!
The property we owned in Central NSW – halfway between Gulgong and Dunedoo – was a hotspot for the paper wasps, so I often had the job of clearing a nest from under the verandah roof, or out of the stables, or even the old dunny. So I was stung more times than I care to count.
There were three different wasps there too. A small dark greyish one (Ropalidia sp.), and two Polistes species – the common one that is this picture and a large one, rather similar in colour and shape to the common one, but twice the size – 20-25mm – and with a sting about 8mm long. Fortunately I was never stung by that one.
Bur now we have moved to the edge of Smowy Mountains region they are less of a problem.
Chris.
@Ben Batt (and cat): Very enjoyable set of photos. I bet I’d like your parents’ garden. I want to pet the Crimson Rosella!! I like seeing “surly” and sleeping Oscar, too.
Thanks everyone for the kind comments, and thanks to Professor Ceiling Cat (Emeritus) for posting my photos!
Thanks for submitting them!