David Kleinert Photography has moved!

Hi everyone!

My photoblog "David Kleinert Photography" has moved to a new home at

http://davidkphotography.com

I have really appreciated all the feedback I have recieved and hope that you will all keep visiting at my new URL. Also, if anyone has put a link to my site on their blog than you will need to update the link!

**It would be great to hear any feedback on my new site layout - there are still some small modifcations I need to do, so please tell me if anything isn't working/displaying right.

See you at my my new home!

Cheers,

Dave.

Has someone been digging?

Staying with the baby animal theme, I thought it was time to post another photo of my baby "Bella". It wasn't hard for me to work out who had been digging holes in the garden again!

Egret eyes

Another one of my photos taken while wading through the waters at Gunbower Forest. With their big eyes and fluffly heads, these baby Great Egrets were pretty cute.

Baby Brown

Finally I came across my first snake of the summer yesterday - very exciting. This guy was a very young Brown Snake, only 30 cm in length. The black bands on the head fade with age but may still be evident in some adults. Brown snakes are highly venomous and one of Australias most dangerous reptiles. Juvenile snakes, such as this fine specimen, still have the potential to deliver a nasty bite!

Australian White Ibis baby

As I mentioned in yesterdays post I was out on the weekend wading through flooded wetlands. The main reason for this was to photograph breeding water birds. This very young Australian White Ibis watched me cautiously from the nest as I waded quietly through the waters. I was also lucky enough to see baby Great Egrets and Little Black Cormorants. I will post more of these fluffy headed chicks over the next few days.

Gunbower reflections

This photo was taken while wading through waist height water at Gunbower Forest in Northern Victoria. Gunbower Forest, a wetland of international significance, is situated on the River Murray and covers an area of 19,450 ha. Current environmental flows are helping to protect & enhance the unique flora and fauna of the forest.

Superb Parrot

Well today is my 100th post & I thought why not celebrate it by posting a photo of my favourite Australian bird - the Superb Parrot. This is a beautiful bird but unfortunately, due to such things as land clearing, loss of hollows and lack of regeneration of woodland habitat , is now a threatened species :( .The total population of the Superb Parrot is estimated to be only a few thousand birds.

Red Dragonfly

A red Dragonfly perches at the edge of Kennington Reservoir in Bendigo. The colour of this guy was amazing! I would have liked the image to be a little sharper, however it still shows the beauty of the insect.

Lacewing

A Lacewing holds on tight to some dry grass in the garden outside where I work. I noticed this insect sitting in same spot for two days. Lacewings belong to an ancient order of insects, Neuroptera. Members of this order are diverse in behaviour and appearance, with wingless larvae that are very different from their delicately-winged adult forms. Sometimes people mistake these guys for dragonflies - however the long antennae help to distinguish that it is a Lacewing.

Yellow Spider

Another one of the many spider species I have been seeing around the bush lately. This guy, most probably belonging to the Orb Weaving family, had built his web in a Heakea shrub in the Axedale flora & fauna reserve. The colours & pattern on the abdomen were quite vibrant and impressive!

Robber Fly

A Robber Fly gets ready to take off in pursuit of insect prey. I posted a Robber Fly a while ago now but I was much happier with this image taken yesterday. There were so many spiders & flies out and about in the bush - seemed to be the only thing out in the heat!

Redback Spider

I came across this juvenile Redback Spider yesterday while searching for bugs to photograph. The white markings on the back indicate that it is only a young spider. When matured, the females abdomen usually retains only the red colouring. They are probably one of Australias most well known dangerous spiders and can cause serious illness.

Eurasian Coot

One of the many Eurasian Coots that inhabit Kennington Reservoir in Bendigo. This species is widespread in Australia, and as the name suggests, they range from Eurasia to Indonesia & New Guinea. These birds are a common site in wetlands and are easily recognised by the snow white bill and red eye.

Black-shouldered Kite

A juvenile Black-shouldered Kite perches on a powerline and scans the ground for prey. They are small birds of prey that live in woodlands, grasslands, paddocks and city parks over most of Australia. These birds can often be seen hovering in one spot and then quickly diving on top of their prey.

Nankeen Kestrel

I photographed this Nankeen Kestrel today at Donald in Victoria. The Nankeen Kestrel is a slender falcon and are found in most areas of Australia, although tend to be absent from dense forests. The preferred habitats are lightly wooded areas and open agricultural regions. The success of this species as a bird of prey can be largely contributed to its tolerance for a wide variety of habitats and its ability to feed on a variety of foods and nest in a range of sites.

River Red Gum

The River Red Gum, belonging to the eucalyptus family, is an iconic Australian tree species. I took this photo along the Avon-Richardson River in Banyena, Victoria. The afternoon sun created amazing colours on the bark and I thought that this, combined with the deep blue sky, would create an interesting photo. River Red Gums are the most widely distributed of all eucalypt species in Australia, occuring in all mainland states. They are typically found along permanent and ephemeral watercourses and under a large range of environmental conditions.

The ducks eye

This Pacific Black Duck came for a closer look while I was sitting at the edge of a lake in Bendigo taking photos of dragonflies. I just had to take his potrait!

Blue Dragonfly

These blue Dragonflies are everywhere at the moment & after many attempts I finally got a photo I was happy with. Dragonflies are found all over Australia and although they need water to breed, individuals can be seen flying many kilometres from freshwater. Males are very territorial, staying close by water to guard their hunting and mating grounds. I would take a guess that this Dragonfly was a male as I watched him constantly chasing off other insects and returning to exact same perch each time.

Bella

I couldn't resist posting a photo of my puppy "Bella". She is an Aussie Bulldog and about 20 weeks old now. Going by the expression on her face I think last nights walk tired her out a bit! Hopefully I can get out and about this weekend to photograph some more native Australian wildlife.

Topaz & Ruby

Something a bit different for todays post. These are some of my families horses - "Topaz" on the left & her foal "Ruby" on the right.

Ready for landing

Another Great Egret photo from when I stumbled across a breeding colony earlier this year in Coleambally, NSW. This bird was flying down towards its nest which had been built in a Wilga tree. Both the male and female Egrets construct the nest, which is a large platform of sticks, and usually placed in a tree over the water. However, the difference with this colony is that they had actually nested over dry ground.