KathyW's Web Space

Photography

This section has been a long time coming, and it barely scratches the surface - showcasing images taken only since 1999. The 35mm archives of prints, negatives and slides dating back to the 1980's and earlier ... may never make it here, there is just too much to sort through. My photographic background covers commercial and industrial, fashion, food, people, machines, art images, nature, wildlife, landscapes, documentation photography, presentation photography including early digital … [Read More...]

Lime Swallowtail

This Lime or Chequered Swallowtail (Papilio demoleus subsp. sthenelus) sighting was the first specimen we'd seen in this area. A very active butterfly it was loath to sit still long, and usually kept it's top wings fluttering ready for a quick escape. It has a very distinctively marked body, continuing the black wing stripes down the thorax and abdomen. The inside of the wings displays a dense chequered pattern across the shoulders, and two distinctive spots on the outer margin of each hind … [Read More...]

Fiddler Beetle

The striking Fiddler Beetle has been a regular visitor over the past few years, ever since our flowers started blooming in our slowly establishing "garden". Actually, it's more of a half-garden half-weedbed, but when you refuse to use herbicides and are in the middle of a drought with water restrictions it's hard to get competition for the weeds going. This year however must be the Year of the Fiddler Beetle - they are here en-mass gorging themselves on the figs (click on any photo … [Read More...]

2011

A small selection of photography from 2011. Massed Pipes and Drums, Daylesford 2011. Storms over Albury and Wodonga. … [Read More...]

Sarracenia leucophylla

Sarracenias, otherwise commonly known as Pitcher Plants, are spectacular in flower. Many people are aware of their elegant and frequently strikingly patterned pitchers, perhaps not as many are aware that in spring they can produce large, brightly coloured flowers in various shades from white, through yellow to red and deep burgundy depending on the species. This year, my Sarracenia leucophylla hybrid produced this beautiful flower. Hopefully when it's new little Conservatory is built … [Read More...]

Utricularia

Utricularia, commonly known as "bladderworts", are a fascinating family of carnivorous plants. They are frequently so tiny and insignificant that they go virtually unnoticed until they flower. Utricularia supplement their nutrient uptake by catching microscopic animals in tiny bladder-like traps attached to their roots. Utricularia subulata This little gem went completely unnoticed until the first golder flower appeared on a fine stem high above the moss covered pot. The pot belonged to … [Read More...]

An Unusual Beauty – dracaena surculosa punctulata

Dracaena surculosa punctulata "Sierra Leone" is known in Malaysia as "Japanese Bamboo". It does bear a superficial resemblance to a thin ornamental bamboo and for decades I believed it to be one. Researching the flower recently I discovered it is not a bamboo at all, but a member of the Dracaena family, and possibly quite rare. The plant was given to me in the late 1980's, and for decades it simply sat on my kitchen bench doing little more than surviving. Then when we built our "grand … [Read More...]