gvallee

Are you familiar with the peacock spiders mating dance? It's extraordinary. There are quite a few videos. Here's one by Jurgen Otto.

Spencer's Goanna (Varanus spenceri) Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) guarding its egg sac

Proboscis monkeys, Borneo

Dreaming is healthy. You can have tremendous fun and success in Australia as well. Lots of wildlife out here, from birds to mammals, macropods, reptiles. Drop bears as well 😉

The location was almost correct. It happened in 2009, an escapee from the Tipperary Station zoo. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-11-16/nt-man-shoots-pygmy-hippo-by-mistake/1145336

Thank you William, I'm glad you had a good time at the zoo. Didn't they have a mini-hippo escapee who got shot from Halls Gap Zoo? Wildlife photography is quite addictive, it's a pleasant challenge requiring patience. I don't know why, it's the only thing I'm patient at!! Can't explain. You'll have fun with a 500mm except with air travel but I guess with the current situation, it's not going to happen any time soon. Congratulations on your nugget. I, too, have found some, only they're chicken!! Seriously, I visited quite a few opal mining towns recently, fossicking is a seriously hard activity. Well done!

Not a bad month in terms of numbers, poor in terms of $$. I had 17 sales for $373. Sorry Losdemas, can't help with the Gold Coast Bulletin, it's pay-walled indeed.

Not ONE but TWO great things happened to me today, and it's only 8:30 a.m. 1. First of April is always a memorable date for me: 35 years ago to this day, I left my 'dear' country. Best thing I have ever done in my whole life. 2. Now that I've shocked you all, the second good news is that, as reported in the Sold Images thread, I licensed a picture of the pub where David Bowie filmed part of the clip 'Let's Dance'. I am thrilled because it was a mini-expedition just to get there. The pub location in Australia is remote, accessible only via dirt roads which become impassable when wet. We went after a big rainfall and the 'road' had just re-opened. There were huge pools of standing water on either side, the ribbon of the road getting narrower and narrower. We just about made it in between without having to swim. The pub was fun inside, it had been chosen because it sits at a cross-road, one of the boxes to be ticked. It was a small sale but the good recollections and fun we have from that trip make it acceptable! Other pictures inside the pub were here and here. Wish you all lots of joy today.

One of 4 sales that dropped in on the last day on the month. Yippie!! I had great hopes as I had the only zooms for the search, being the only images on Alamy. This is the pub where David Bowie filmed part of the clip Let's Dance. There's no great danger of pointing this out as the place is fairly remote, reachable only via dirt roads in dry weather, and would not financially warrant a trip on itself. On top of that, I had my picture taken inside the pub and it's displayed next to David Bowies' there. Little things in life...

Yes, they are a pleasure to watch. I remember the excitement when I saw my first one, I could hardly focus. Jurgen Otto who's the expert in Oz, believes that all species have now been discovered. He's had a few to his name! Not all of them have been described though (no name given yet), science is always a slow process. They're tiny bugg***s, most people don't realise. The size of a match head.

One from your country this time Betty... Lost Dutchman State Park, Arizona

Peacock Spider - Australia

The happy news for today is that since I can't go anywhere, I've started looking around trees and bushes around my motorhome. I found a treasure trove of fascinating insects and am back full tilt into macro photography, which gives me a lot of pleasure.

Nah... He'll have his revenge at Scrabble or Boggle today. And he always beats me at ping-pong anyway, although I'm pretty good at it, says she modestly.

Unfortunately, we have no hummingbirds in Oz, nor monkeys for that matter. This one was taken in Costa Rica. We do have the lovely sunbirds, lyrebirds and bowerbirds though.