December Wildlife 2013

[arillady]

Thanks Anthony I thought you would know. Well of course it is a Christmas spider! I haven't seen one before and he is pretty fancy. Guess I leave the pruning of that lavender bush for another day now.

[Maggi Young]

I am suffering from unexpected masochism- I think it was brought on by the seasonal name of the darn thing.....

http://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=1869

Yikes! Those close -ups are great photos but give me the heebie-jeebies.  Why DID  I go searching?

[Olga Bondareva]

I am suffering from unexpected masochism- I think it was brought on by the seasonal name of the darn thing.....
http://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=1869
Yikes! Those close -ups are great photos but give me the heebie-jeebies.  Why DID  I go searching?

Maggi thank you for a new word in my vocabulary. 
As for me the spider is funny.

I hunted for elks family a couple of days ago.


http://cs311726.vk.me/v311726879/21dbe/SaK2bwNXP64.jpg


http://cs311726.vk.me/v311726879/21dc7/lDFICIB5Fuc.jpg


http://cs311726.vk.me/v311726879/21dd0/kfNh1poxJKU.jpg

[arillady]

You found the same site MAGGI - great shots of the spider and so much better than I could get. It is a pretty magic spider.

[Anthony Darby]

Meanwhile you could listen to the Hee Bee Gee Bees

[fermi de Sousa]

While gathering up dry leaves for mulch, one "leaf" suddenly jumped out of the way!
Can the neighbouring Bug Expert identify it?
cheers
fermi

[Anthony Darby]

Could be a Gumleaf Grasshopper (Goniaea australasiae), but I'm not sure? Just back from Rarotonga with Lucy. Here are some fish we saw while snorkelling in the lagoon in front of the hotel.

[Anthony Darby]

Here are some more fish and some geckos. The brown geckos were possibly Gehyra oceanica.

[Anthony Darby]

Some more wildlife. The house geckos were Hemidactylus frenatus. The adult male skinks (Emoia cyanura) have blue tails.  I found two female coconut stick insects (Graeffea crouanii) feeding on a variegated thornless screw pine. In large numbers they can defoliate coconut plantations, so Indian mynahs, like those we have in Auckland, were introduced 100 years ago. The last photo is a view from the beach at the hotel. Paradise. 

[Peter Maguire]

Aroa beach - looks better than the pre-Christmas view out of the window here! 

Nice fish pictures Anthony - did you use one of the underwater compact cameras that are avaialble these days?

[Anthony Darby]

Yes Peter, an Olympus Tough. Takes videos too. I prefer my other Olympus with the waterproof case as I can use the eye piece viewer. Screens are hopeless under water as you see virtually nothing.

[arillady]

A brown snake killing a young shingle back lizard just now.
PS I have cropped these a few times to bring them closer as I was not getting close myself.

[Steve Garvie]

A brown snake killing a young shingle back lizard just now.
PS I have cropped these a few times to bring them closer as I was not getting close myself.

Amazing sighting!
I suppose there's no escape from that venom no matter how tough the victim's scaly skin is!

[Anthony Darby]

Judging by the tight coils, it seems to be applying a belt and braces approach.

[David Nicholson]

..... and had I tight coils I might adopt a belt and braces approach too