Wedge-tailed Eagle

Wedge-tailed Eagle (captive animal)

Wedge-tailed Eagle - Aquila audax, is the largest raptor in Australia. What a majestic animal!

Yesterday, we went to Lone Pine Sanctuary in Brisbane. This photographic wildlife eldorado could not be more different to where I normally capture animals, namely in the wild.

In such a beautiful wildlife park, every unique photo opportunity comes like chips at McDonalds. You can order or help yourself to more at any time, repeat encounters with normally shy and rare animals. You can even plan the lighting and background with a bit of patience. You are seduced by cuteness and uniqueness in a multipack.



To me, it feels a bit like cheating wildlife photography. Seeing flocks of tourists taking phone selfies with birds, marsupials and other animals feels weird. Seeing people poke, chase and otherwise harass the 'faunal objects' even frustrates a bit.

Does the existence of places like this depreciate the value of wildlife photos in nature? Surely, it clarifies the context on which my wildlife photos are judged by the public. Seeing the many baby Koalas at close and eye-level distance with natural looking background and perfect light convinces me that photos taken in the wild should not even try to compete.

Koala baby (captive animal)

It somehow becomes archaic and irrelevant when hard work and luck competes with paying an entrance fee or a ticket. In many parks, you can and even should attempt to make staged and arranged photos look like wild ones. Vice versa, it is highly uneconomical and often impossible to make natural wildlife photos look like perfect studio shots.

Let's not pour more fuel into many examples of cheating and even fraud in wildlife photography. Just bear in mind: if some photos seem too beautiful to be true, unfortunately, we might (wrongly but often rightly) assume that this is what they are. In the end, what works and what evokes emotions has justification. But we should not fall for populism in photography even if that is exactly what all of us wildlife photographers are guilty of when we try to please anyone.



Does such a wildlife park replace the appreciation of real natural habitats in general or complement it? Does the modern alienation of nature combined with a narcissistic culture pose a threat or quite the contrary? Will we soon only have wildlife 'ghettos' in a rapidly developing cosmopolitan city and society? Will the public have a distorted understanding and little care of natural habitats and ecosystems?

Lone Pine is mainly a rehabilitation centre for injured animals and has also an educational function with respect to native fauna and heritage. They are doing a great job. It is so good, that I would recommend to spend a day there, preferably not around school holidays or on weekends. Maybe even take a picnic and commute there with a direct bus from the CBD to take advantage of lounge chairs at the bus stop. How innovative!

One of the Wedge-tailed Eagles, came to the park as a shooting victim. It is a bit ironic that real bullets have now been replaced with photos for the shoots. The eagle in the daily scheduled raptor show certainly don't seem to mind that much. This guy got a mouse for lunch as you might see in a few photos presented on my webpage.

Wedge-tailed Eagle (captive animal)

Photographically, my choice of a long zoom lens was an unnecessary choice out habit. It was a compromise that saved me changing lenses all the time. Quite contrary to a photo shoot in the wild, a professional would prefer a shorter, good quality prime lens under such controlled conditions.

A wildlife photographer in the bush would rather worry about how to collect stardust on mars than about too much or the wrong reflection in a wild eagle's eyes. It amuses me somehow that the result I got doesn't satisfy me from a technical point of view. And yet, it is another good example to show that context matters in photography. This was almost a studio shot and needs to be regarded and judged as such.

Do I really want to see a reflection of myself and my background in the pupils of an eagle picture? My answer is clearly 'no'. How could I plan that better next time? Many photographers would simply argue that photography skills start with Photoshop and don't end there. I disagree. Frankly, I am still short of an alternative option. A reflection board (let alone a flashlight) might distract or freak out the animal and would certainly need permission and thorough consideration to be used.



This picture is still artistically pleasing to me because the busy background is eliminated with a soft, creamy contrast to the dark animal. The portrait makes me wonder what the eagle is reflecting on and where it is focussing its thoughts. Is it happy or is its life too artificial and too close to human cameras?

Enjoy!

Australian Pelican

Australian Pelican with inside-out pouch put over its body

Australian Pelicans - they are so common and big that they may have exhausted to get much of my photographic attention. I often only check if they are fine and free from fishing line entanglement and other damage. There is hardly any picture that I have not attempted or one that has not been pixelated yet.

Last week, this guy distracted me a bit while I was witnessing some beautiful Darter family action nearby (will write a blog post later). What looked horribly wrong to me, may have been a witness account of some value.




This Pelican obviously turned its pouch inside out, leaned its neck back and put the pouch over its body. Try that! Once I was pretty confident that this was real and the animal was fine, I saw the funny side of it. How cool is that? You can clearly see the veins on the pouch skin, too.

I had assumed that the Pelican was having the sun rid him of a few parasites or some bad, fishy breath. Maybe the drying air or sun was helping with healing a wound. A QuestaGame expert pointed out that the role of their gular pouches to help in cooling is known. Maybe it was reverse engineering and the Pelican was trying to warm up. We have cold nights in Brisbane at the moment and I couldn't blame the Pelican for not caring about its silly 'pouched-over' looks.

This is certainly a photo that deserves to be on my website, maybe not for photographic quality (it was quite far away) but documentation of a rarely documented behaviour.

Hopefully, you'll enjoy.

Last thought...

Pristhesancus plagipennis

Look at this picture and imagine that you are a fly. By the time, you would have finished that thought being that very imaginary fly you'd be doomed, injected with a hormone that liquefies your tissue only to be sucked out by this Bee Killer Assassin Bug.




These predators move smoothly and steadily. They conceal in ambush until they can present their victims with their beautiful red-orange body. It might remind of a beautiful flower and food, look irresistible. The long 'horn' that acts as a syringe and straw might only be noticed when it snaps and punctures its prey.

If you are a human, being a fly might not be your last thought. If you are injected the strong venom of the Bee Killer Assassin Bug, however, you might wish for a few days that you could fly and leave the pain behind you.

Looking at this photo might help you to empathise with a fly or any other insects. You might see what they last saw. Maybe you'll know their last thought - a good one I am quite sure.

Enjoy your meal and keep dreaming!

Coffee sipping bug

Do you drink serveral cups of coffee per day? You might suffer from the 'Coffee sipping bug'.

Please have a look at what might be the first animated document witnessing this bug at work. Admittedly, you will not find any cure for your coffee addiction. You'll be witnessing a bug, obviously enjoying to suck out some coffee sap right from the plant. This is the stuff that you might expect in a David Attenborough documentary or a National Geographic story. They would have professional equipment and obviously quite a bit more experience and talent to make this really tantalisingly irresistible - just like a cup of coffee in the morning.

My friends would say that this movie - similar to my other wildlife activities - is not sexy enough for a wider public. Surely, they are right. But...isn't that a gorgeous bug? Look at it! This guy was so passionate about getting to the good stuff, the coffee sap I assume. I love seeing passion and natural behaviour. I love witnessing and documenting true and unmanipulated life that hardly anyone else knows and has ever seen before. How could I hold this back and keep this footage for myself? Surely, with a few billion people on this Earth someone else will share my fascination and fully enjoy this video.

I doubt that many people could identify this species easily. At least to me this animal is unknown, its segmented body with 6 legs hints at it being an insect or arthropod of some sort. So, I call it a bug but am happy to learn its true identity. The animal is not more than 2 mm long, the size of a pinhead. The body seems to be covered with a shield, probably made from collected material. Some long hairlike thread is constantly probing the environment while the animal is visibly busy sticking something that looks like an antler into the coffee leaf, probing it really well and leaving a visible trace. I love passion and dedication and that's what I can see in this video.

The bug totally ignored the fact that I had pinched off the leaf from the bush and kept flashing my camera at it. The footage was taken in our garden. Some fancy music would probably suit it better than the surrounding noise, some birds and traffic. It was a bit windy too. Some parts of the bug's shield or body are obviously blown around a bit at some stage.




I tried to take pictures with my 100mm macro lens with a 68mm extension tube on a cropped sensor camera. That didn't give me enough details in magnification and I got better quality with my microscope modus on my underwater camera.

Let's be realistic: we can't keep up with large animals, we struggle with small ones, on land but even more under water. Nudibranch documentation has taught me that introducing small animals to the world is a challenge, even when they are the most beautiful and story telling animals. When they are smaller than 2mm, it is almost hopeless to have the right equipment ready in the right situation that allow to document properly and to get an audience that is able to connect with it.

My addiction is not coffee, but macro photography and wildlife documentation. Let me know if you share my enthusiasm and let me know if you like this footage (if not the bug). By sharing this story and video with your friends you might contribute to get the word out there, namely that: 'coffee sipping' is addictive, even among some bugs.

Crimson Rosella

• Photo Discussion Friday

Crimson Rosella

PDF Week 19/2016: Canon 7D, 400mm (on 100-400mm lens), 1/400, f5.6, ISO 2500.

Crimson Rosella come in a variety of colours. Juveniles and adolescents sometimes resemble other species and even other bird groups, such as Lorikeets, Parots, even Cockatoos etc. While there are a few colour morphs and even a few different races, Crimson Rosellas can normally be recognised from their blue patch on their chin.

We just enjoyed some days out in the bush and were spoiled to witness these majestic animals in the wild. Despite their colourful presence they can be amazingly well camouflaged. Often only their loud screeching voices high in the tree canopy give away their whereabouts. I can not remember ever having spotted a solitary Crimson Rosella. Neither was this individual alone but had a mate nearby.



These animals are wary of humans but not shy. Some are even tame especially when they are fed by humans. For us, it was great to meet a pair roaming a green bush for its orange fruit. They seem like sloppy eaters seemingly dropping half the food. The light was poor but I love the authenticity of the picture. It shows the bush and wildlife we came to see.

Green and red

• Photo Discussion Friday

Green and red

PDF Week 16/2016: Canon 7D, 400mm, 1/30, f5.6, ISO 1250.

A beautiful day came to an end. The sun had already gone down. The horizon still showed the outlines of clouds and mountains. It was too late to take pictures. It was the time when normally night dives start, when life under water shifts, when a different beauty shines through and different rules apply. It is about seeing with your heart, trusting a different reality and feeling as part of it.

Standing on shore with a warm breeze blowing felt like being a spectator rather than being in the scene. My land photography eyes spotted a White-bellied Sea Eagle. They are large birds that can be recognised by their short tails. Often immersing in the sea, long feathers would prevent easy lift-off and a swift return into the air and back to land.



What was the bird doing on that marker buoy? Where were its thoughts travelling? Why would you stare into the slowly blinking light rather than out to the sea? Why would you just sit and watch and not go to work, hunt for food? It must be blinding that electronic light and the life with it! It seemed like the bird was hypnotised, fully absorbed by that magic cylinder of unexplained light.

Move on bird, choose the boat, lift the anchor and sail away protected by the night. Forget the green and the red light. Forget the led screen and make the bay yours! Gosh - I miss scuba diving!

This photo is only slightly edited, no colour added, just lightened up.

Male Mosquito

• Photo Discussion Friday

Male Mosquito
PDF Week 15/2016: Canon 7D, 100mm, 1/250, f25, ISO 100, external flash.

Ever since the outbreak of the ZIKA virus, mosquitos stand on my list to photograph. It is a challenge. They are not exactly rare animals around here. But how do you take photographs?

Quite obviously they are small and fine creatures. Macro photography is difficult at the best of times. My only model that would put health and safetly on the stand for my photography is actually myself.
Mosquitos like me but they don't care about my ambition. They willingly accepted my blood donation on my first try, leaving behind a nasty itch but not even trace of a usable frame. Surely, my body distortions trying to make arms and hands meet were funny to watch; holding still to bribe the sample with my blood, aiming a flash and my camera at short distance. It simply did not work.

Shall I really move to the dark side and cheat with my photography? Should I put some of my blood into a container? Shall I put the animal in the fridge for a while (what an odd thought)? And would that guarantee a good photo? I decided that it is simply not worth it.

Exhausted from this week's nature outing odyssee, ready for a well-deserved shower, food and re-hydration, I spotted a mosquito on our kitchen window curtain. The beautiful animal seemed to wait for a meal - a bit similar to me. Was that my opportunity?




While I got my camera and flash it didn't move. For quite some time, I assumed that it was actually dead and dried out. I don't know much about mosquito physiology. But the front legs tilted up simply look wrong to me. It held still for quite a while and only later flew off.

Did you know that male mosquitos don't bite but feed on pollen and nectar. Blood is only sucked by females who need it to breed their eggs. As you can see in the picture the antennae are lined with fine hairs, called antennal flagellum. It allows the males to hear the finest sounds - the lovely mosquito buzzing we all enjoy - extremely well.

With this photo, I would love to get people thinking about eradication programs. In times of Zika and other mosquito born diseases we often forget about the important functions such creatures have, next to being annoying and dangerous to our health. Lots of birds and other animal feed on them directly or indirectly.

Apart from that, I hope you enjoy a mosquito bite free weekend!

Praying Mantis - Orthodoera ministralis

• Photo Discussion Friday

Blue Eye Praying

PDF Week 14/2016: Canon 7D, 100mm, 1/250, f32, ISO 100, external flash.

So exciting to have a Praying mantis back in our basil garden. It is a different species to the resident individual from last year. They are highly welcome since we have lots of Grass hoppers and all sorts of other insects who enjoy and devour most of our garden plants.

This Praying Mantis was found close to a beautiful Assassin Bee Eater. Would they stalk each other? Both of them are exquisite hunters quite high in the food chain. Assassin Bee Eaters jump their prey and suck it out injecting a digestive venom that can hurt humans quite badly.

Suddenly, I noticed a large grasshopper in the equation. Despite having a perfect angle I put my camera away, trying to watch the spectacle without interfering. It was not going to be a love triangle for sure. But who would end up having or being a meal?

The Grasshopper jumped within 3cm (an inch) of the Praying Mantis. The mantis stared for an eternity and finally launched a half hearted attack on the Grasshopper. It missed. All the animals went their unharmed ways for now.


Picture: Bee Killer Assassin-Bug

The Praying Mantis seemed to pose for me a bit later. For  a few seconds it even opened up and moved its front legs away from its body. To my surprise, a blue spot became visible on the inside of those spring loaded, sharp catching tools. Those blue 'eyes' must be the last thing, prey will look at before being killed and eaten.

The Praying Mantis looks like Orthodoera novaezealandiae but since the photo was taken in Brisbane, I assume it is relatively safe to say that the blue eyes identify it as Orthodoera ministralis.

Photographing animals that rely on camouflage and blend into their background is always quite tricky. When the animal opened its front legs, the yellow thighs and the blue spots simply took me by surprise. They complement the green background and getting the (real) eye contact is an added bonus.

Being aware that we already had a Praying Mantis in Photo Discussion Friday this year...I simply can hardly get enough of them. 

Enjoy!

P.S. The original of this article can be found at http://www.goodpicturesonline.com/Blog/PhotoDiscussionFriday/2016-Week-14

Goniobranchus daphne

Goniobranchus daphne

Goniobranchus daphne is a common nudibranch in my area. It is supposedly an endemic species, meaning that it only exists in or originates from Australia. Like the Blue-striped Octopus and the photo of the Crested Terns, this photo was also taken last week at some rockpools near Brisbane. That means that almost everyone can explore and find nudibranchs.


In one of many branch related articles, I wrote about different brancher types, people who explore nudibranchs and their more extended relatives: opisthobranchs. There is ample to learn about these animals without even coming close to the sea where they can be met anywhere, any habitat, any depth, in any size.

Actually, similar to how hobby archaeologists study satellite maps, hobby branchers can study publications. I can only tell everybody: you would not believe what you find and how relevant it is for research. Certainly a treasure for the historians amongst you and I am happy to give hints. If you have access to the ocean, you can explore the shoreline and shallow waters, e.g. rockpools. Some branchers take a dip either by snorkelling or scuba diving - both accommodating each for finding an overlapping but different set of nudibranchs. In my outlook, I let my fantasy play and predicted a branching assisted by robots. Last month, I realised that reality had almost overtaken me when I got an email from a start-up company developing affordable submersible vehicles for exploration.


What is so exciting about nudibranchs? In my opinion, pretty much everything! What is exciting about birds? What is exciting about nature and science? Whether we realise it or not: we are all involved and depend on them. Milk comes from cows not from stores! The ocean is quite a big and diverse habitat, lots of industries and nations directly or indirectly making a living from it. Nudibranchs are an important part of the marine ecosystem and closely linked to everyone's daily lives. Take them away, and hell would break loose (a bit trivial considering that some studies found that even parasites are beneficial e.g. in birds).

Nudibranchs normally don't move far and have a fast life cycle. When food is abundant and water conditions are right, populations pike. Beautiful equilibrium finding happens, nice regularities and correlations can be observed. That makes branchs perfect bio-indicators. Since they eat and metabolise chemically interesting organisms, such as sponges, hydroids etc. pharmaceutical companies and exploitative researchers have had high stakes in them for quite some time. Research on one opisthobranch group has directly led to a HIV drug. Another group is in close focus because of their solar energy harvesting.


There are many more examples on how opisthobranchs can inspire bio-mimetic processes. That means that by observing how branchs solve certain problems, science can adapt and imitate such processes and develop various applications mankind could benefit. Research on Opisthobranchs is being blocked or hindered in Queensland, left to people who prioritise other agendas. Funds are channeled into research that is hardly interested in their specific behaviours, traits and co- and inter-dependencies. Yet, the popularity of nudibranchs can hardly be stopped.

People travel across the globe to see such animals that don't exist back home. Australia and Queensland have a lot of nudibranch species that only exist here - endemics. It can be as easy as walking along the shore to spot them. As much as I would love to go on a safari in Africa, South America or elsewhere, Australia and Queensland maybe offer some gems that are yet to be discovered. Start before the big run sets in!

Crested Tern

• Photo Discussion Friday
  

Daughter and mum

PDF Week 13/2016: Canon 7D, 400mm, 1/800, f7.1, ISO 100.

Last week, we had one of those rare days out - a day where I dared to take the camera with me. At the moment, my heart is out there in the ocean flatlands. It is time for migrating birds to think of heading North. It is autumn.

As you may know from David Attenborough movies, the tidal changes are a driving force for life forms and exciting stories that many of us know little about. Rockpools and shallow water are not always the barren uninhabited ecosystem that they appear to be. We might not see microorganisms, tiny plants and animals, but more visible crustaceans, molluscs, fish and other animals are witnessing their presence and a huge abundance of nutrients.

Birds belong to that ecological system. The find of the day was certainly the Blue-striped Octopus - a small animal with a deadly venomous bite. It doesn't seem an animal that many of my friends can or want to associate with. In one of the pools an Australian endemic nudibranch species, Goniobranchus daphne, moved around, unimpressed by the receding tide, the warming and drying pool. I wish I had my friend with me who - on all her exciting travels into exotic oceanic locations with professional guides and world leading photographers - has hardly seen any nudibranchs or - I assume - Blue striped Octopuses.

The picture I chose to present shows a juvenile Crested Tern working her mum to share some food. It was a cute scene. The juvenile had mixed with a flock of resting Silver Gulls, begging them discreetly for food. The mother joined quickly but moved on to a close-by rock. Obviously, it didn't take much convincing for the baby to follow. Everything happened just a few meters away from us. It was quite an intimate moment with the birds finding each other and showing that special maternal bond.

I love the photo because the beaks of the two are facing each other, building a connection. The mother is elevated on a pedestal and the juvenile sitting in the water. There was no harassing, only a silent begging and an alertness on what was going on around them. The two birds watch the camera and I am not sure if in this case I would have preferred for them to be focused and looking at each other in a less concealed way.

As always, I was tempted to crop the picture and to zoom in more. But somehow, I wanted to give the context of the rockpool with oyster covered boulders, the shallow pool and environment. My camera lens left a nasty glare in one important spot and professional equipment would also certainly have left a nicer bokeh. Does it matter or bother?

This short rockpool session produced so many memorable moments that it is impossible to share them all. I can certainly recommend exploring, taking some time and not expecting too much. Just be surprised when becoming a part of nature opens up stories and images that might follow you for a long time. A little bit of awareness and connection with nature will ensure for you to even enjoy and be excited about Blue-striped Octopuses.

Stay safe and enjoy!

Bees in Australia

Sugarbag Bee - Tetragonula carbonaria or Trigona carbonaria

Did you know that there are more than 1500 different bee species in Australia? What an amazing diversity! I knew that there were quite a few native species, was actually proud to have photographed half a dozen different species so far. But this high number really amazes me. A long way to go for my bee documentation.

Since I have some friends overseas who are interested in bees, I thought I should share. I miss the European Bumble Bees but doubt that the old world has anywhere near as many bee species as Down under. Maybe someone knows?

The Sugarbag bees not only have a cute name. It is also quite a stunning animal. It is about the size of a small lady bird beetle. They are little quirky things, more reminding of some busy bug that I associate with a nasty bloodsucking bite. However, this is one of the many stingless bees in Australia.

They do collect honey that tastes fine. From what I read, Aborigines used to do some honey harvesting from this species and you can even buy it by the hive. Certainly fun to keep some bees, certainly involved with a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork that is not quite as stingless (https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/62512/Guidelines-for-keeping-bees-in-Queensland.pdf).

The photo was taken in our garden on a flowering Calistemon tree. These bees have an interesting technique to collect the pollen. They seem to wrap themselves around one or two filaments or other parts of the plant to stabilise themselves. It looks like they are on their backs, nibbling for a few milliseconds on the anthers before they fly the the next one.

It is easy to see where they got their name from. They store the collected pollen in a bag. Unlike normal European sugar bees, they carry that bag not close to their bodies but on their lower legs. I assume that helps their collection technique. It also might help their egos and make them look more voluminous than they are.

Neon Cuckoo Bee

Blue banded Bee

Meterbox Carder Bee

Have a look at the other bee species on my Good Pictures Online website. This morning, I uploaded an invasive species from South Africa, the Meterbox Carder Bee. The Neon Cuckoo Bee and the Blue Banded Bees are all common visitors here, enjoying our flowering basil at the moment.

And there are lots of nervous 2mm bee-like insects hanging around. They will be almost impossible to catch on camera in full focus and decent quality. I tried but all I almost caught was a sunburn. We all need challenges, don't we!

Enjoy!