All these photos were taken in and around Apollo Bay in spring 2023, with the exception of the honey bee which was photographed in Melbourne.
Koala and joey in Apollo Bay after sunset, climbing to a high and safe spot in this tree for the night.
Great Egret, Apollo Bay.
With a single powerful down stroke of its large wings this great egret effortlessly levitated as a prelude to assuming a streamlined shape and gaining airspeed as it climbed away over the Barham River.
Little black cormorant in Apollo Bay harbour getting airborne from a stationary floating start in nil wind.
Sparrow nestlings being fed in their secure nest in the rafters of our deck roof.
Advanced juvenile magpie, flying well and capable of feeding itself, but quite happy to stand there on the moist grass while his father dutifully found food and fed it to him.
Grub entree on the left. Other photos show delivery of a large moth which was a more substantial snack. Note the parent’s careful placement of the moth well into the throat of the juvenile.
Video
Female worker bee really getting amongst the pollen-bearing stamen inside this flowering cactus. It flew in and out of the plentiful pollen supplies and steadily built up its payload of two full pollen pellets, one on each hind leg. These ingenious cargo pods facilitate flying bulk pollen between flowers and the hive. The pellets stay in place during flight with special viscoelastic adhesive the bee creates from regurgitated nectar. I observed this bee and numerous others collecting pollen in this way from this flower. The cactus only flowers once a year so this early morning pollen collection was successful and special.
The worker honey bee with cargo pods near maximum size, doing a near-vertical confined-space takeoff while reversing and climbing away from the flower to clear air where it set heading on direct track back to the hive.
The video and photo of the honey bee were taken using an iPhone 8. I intend to revisit bees in flight, using my old Nikon macro lens and my new Nikon D850 camera.
Sequence of four photos taken in rapid succession.
The end of the life of one wave on the beach at the end of my street, with building swell in a strong offshore wind. The vivid aqua colour comes from the wave being backlit by the early morning sun. Just one of the joys of an east-facing beach.
A couple of kms south west of the beach at the end of my street, the rising swell was breaking with much greater size and force over Little Henty Reef near Hayley Point.
In the early morning sun, a strong cross-offshore wind was putting texture on the clean face of this substantial wave and blowing the white-water spray over the back.
To take the photos of the larger waves at Little Henty Reef shown above, I stood on this sunlit grass clearing in front of the large dark green bush and a couple of metres from the edge of the small cliff. I took quite a few photos and was there for half an hour or so, standing quietly in the thick shin-deep grass with my camera on an adjustable six foot monopod. It was pleasantly warm in the sun and very peaceful and quiet. I eventually decided to move a short distance forward and to my left to get a clearer view of waves to the south. That was the moment I first spotted this snoozing tiger snake which must have been there less than two metres from my feet the whole time I had been standing still taking photos.
My 80-400mm Nikon telephoto zoom lens, with autofocus mode set, can focus as close as 1.75m. I stopped perfectly still the moment I saw the snake in the thick shin-deep grass, and took this photo. The snake was just in focal range and was not moving. I then took my eye away from the viewfinder and moved my head around a little to get a better view of the partially concealed snake to see if I could get a photo which included its head and hopefully more of the body. I found an angle which didn’t involve moving my feet, then put my eye back to the view finder. The snake had disappeared. I very quickly put the camera to one side hoping to see the snake disappearing into the scrub to my left. But I saw nothing.
That precise moment coincided with the conclusion of my photo session on my photographer’s eyrie in the long grass. I walked back into the scrub with my monopod scraping a small clearing arc left and right ahead of me until I was clear of the lush grass, as well as scraping my feet (snakes cannot hear, but they are sensitive to vibration). The tiger snake observed the snake-human interaction code of conduct and obviously headed off in a different direction to me. A few local friends of mine, with relevant experience, declared the snake in the photo to be a large one. Careful examination of the partially overlapping scales will inform you as to the direction to the head of the snake.
I am in the market for some effective snake gaiters. In the meantime, I propose to wear my motorbike boots (thick leather up to just below the knee). In summer I already carry a compression bandage and an iPhone (plus PLB if going beyond mobile phone range) on any outing requiring walking in snake habitat.
The tiger snake is one of the deadliest snakes in the world. It has fangs 3.5-5mm in length. Without appropriate first aid response and treatment, death can occur in as little as 30 minutes, but more typically takes around 6-7 hours.
According to an article from the University of Melbourne school of Biomedical Sciences:
(Tiger snake) “…venom is produced in large quantities, the average yield being around 35mg. The record yield was 180mg. Tiger snake venom contains pre-synaptic and post-synaptic neurotoxins, myotoxins and procoagulants. Bites result in paralysis, incoagulable blood and muscle damage, which may lead to renal failure.” “Contrary to perceived wisdom, tiger snakes are not aggressive, although they will bite if interfered with.”
Magpie living his best life on the Apollo Bay beach.
South 
Great photos & commentary John .
Reckon there is going to be heaps of ‘snake’ stories this year, yours was the second one today & both involved Tiger snakes!
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Thanks and regards, from Hunto.
Sometimes Word Press recognises me in Gippsland, other times…………
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Hi John.
This post could have been captioned “Why would I ever leave Apollo Bay?”
What a fabulous array of photogenic candy. Thank you for the viewing pleasure. You go alright with the words too.
Once I used to think the epithet “he’s just a snake in the grass” was pejorative accuracy. I’d like to think I’ve grown up a bit. Last year I almost stood on a tiger lying in short grass. It displayed perfect timing, not moving until it absolutely had to. Fortunately for me, as I was in my wetsuit which I’m sure are not gaiter-like. Apart from the flowing ease of its retreat, I was struck by how brown it was. But the banded markings were a tell-tale sign. I’ve read that tigers have many variegations, probably due to millennia of evolutionary camouflaging.
As for those bee photos, magnificent. Keeping bees, you get to see all the ingenious uses for pollen. Above all, it is a sign of a healthy hive as bees feed it to their young in all stages before hatching. Inspections confirm that the queen is “doing her job”, laying hundreds of eggs. Watching the hive entrance is a delight. As the pollen-pregnant girls arrive to be vetted and waved through or rejected by air traffic control, their loads can resemble panniers on a bike, ear muffs, orange prey and so on, depending on your vantage point.
The endless fascination of Mother Nature.
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Pleased to hear you enjoyed these photos Hunto. I too understand that tiger snakes (and brown snakes) can come in quite a variety of colours and markings. I’d like to sit with my camera near the entrance/exit of one of your hives to get some photos of airborne bees, especially female worker bees inbound with a load of pollen. I once likened photographing the new holland honeyeater in flight to photographing airborne blowflies on a hot day. I suspect photographing bees in flight will be a similar challenge.
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