Date posted: Sunday 07 March 2010
Category: Landscape, Personal, Photos
Trinity Beach today
I decided that today would be very lazy. I had a bit of a sleep in, fetched some water for my marine tanks, then crashed on the beach with a bacon and egg sandwich, some orange juice, and Why does e=mc² by Brian Cox and Jeff
Not sure what species this is, but they seem to like human skin
Forshaw. After a while I wandered slowly to the northern end of the beach, allowed some fish (one pictured at right) to try eating the skin from my lower legs, watched a sea eagle eat its lunch, then wandered back to the cafe again for an iced chocolate and some mango and macadamia cheesecake.
I may wander back to the beach for a bit this afternoon, maybe with the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe and a Malibu and cola. Yes, it’s a tough life.
Date posted: Saturday 06 March 2010
Category: While I was browsing
Date posted: Thursday 04 March 2010
Category: While I was browsing
Date posted: Monday 01 March 2010
Category: Photos, Wildlife
Are you one of those people who are disgusted by others who blow their nose and then look to see what came out? Sitting at home coughing up copious amounts of phlegm, I find myself wishing I had a microscope powerful enough to see what’s living in it – preferably with a digital camera attachment so I could share the image with others. I’m weird and underfunded.
Instead, here’s a close up of an annoyed Cairns birdwing caterpillar from my garden. They’re rather attractive critters, especially if you poke them to get the red “horns” out. This photo’s a nice test of the supermacro function on my new camera – it passes I think.
Cairns birdwing caterpillar
Date posted: Monday 01 March 2010
Category: While I was browsing
Date posted: Sunday 28 February 2010
Category: Aquarium, Personal, Photos
I’ve been struggling with a cold this weekend, spending time coughing, hacking, wheezing and sleeping. This afternoon I decided to play with my new camera, and filmed my barramundi. It didn’t turn out very well due to me not cleaning the glass or turning off the other aquarium lights to stop reflections. I’ll have to try again some other feeding time, and will zoom in on the strike. For now, however, here are four frames, 0.08 seconds between shots. I’m glad he doesn’t have sharp teeth.
Mundi strikes
Date posted: Thursday 25 February 2010
Category: While I was browsing
Date posted: Wednesday 24 February 2010
Category: Photos, Plants, Wildlife
A little while ago I dropped a few plants into my yard hoping to attract butterflies. My choices were little evodiella (Evodiella muelleri) for the Ulysses blue (Papilio ulysses), and native dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia tagala) for the Cairns birdwing (Troides euphorion). I had hopes for the evodiella, as I have seen Ulysses butterflies around the area, but so far I’ve seen no sign of success.
I have never seen a Cairns birdwing around the beaches, so my hopes for the dutchman’s pipe being successful were slimmer. This evening, however, I noticed several large caterpillars munching away. Here’s one of them:
Cairns birdwing caterpillar
I guess that confirms that the Cairns birdwing is around Trinity Beach. The caterpillars grow to around 9cm, but this one was only around 4 and has a bit of growing to do. I have a suspicion that A. tagala being in flower and fruit may have helped attract the butterflies.
Aristolochia tagala flowers and fruit
The E. muelleri hasn’t flowered yet, and I assume the scent might help – though it’s not the best species for the Ulysses blue. The best, Mellicope elleryana, grows far too large for my small garden. I am thinking about dropping one in anyway, and keeping it well pruned.
I’ll try to get a better photo of the caterpillars when the light is better.
Date posted: Sunday 21 February 2010
Category: Aquarium, Photos
Male maroon anemonefish and bubbletip anemone
I finally replaced the camera I lost in my Christmas tumble, and the images are looking pretty good. I had been happy with my previous Olympus, so I stuck with the brand but bought a more expensive model, the Mju9000. I’m now just waiting for a sunny weekend to give it a good workout.
