Nature is Amazing

This is one of my older pictures that I took when I had the old Kodak camera. I was in Canberra when I took this photo of a leaf covered in rain drops. I just love the vivid colours that nature puts on display for us to enjoy every day.

Autumn in Canberra Part Four: Autumn Leaves

This is the last blog post of "Autumn in Canberra", showing some beautiful leaves that I saw there while walking back to my hotel room one afternoon after work.

Use the links below to see parts 1-3 of the Autumn in Canberra blog posts:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Autumn in Canberra Part Three: Golden Trees

These pictures were taken on the campus of the Australian National University, close to Sullivans Creek. I edited the second photo a little, removing the Telstra Tower, a communications tower built on top of Black Mountain.

There is also a Part One, Part Two and Part Four of Autumn in Canberra.

Autumn in Canberra Part Two: Vibrant Red and Orange

I was pleasantly surprised at the vibrant Autumn colours that greeted me when I arrived in Canberra. These colours are impressive when looking at brightly glowing yellow and orange trees, but no less so when looking at an individual leaf. Here are two examples of many that caught my eye.

There is also a Part One, Part Three and Part Four of Autumn in Canberra.

Australian Darter

The Australian Darter (also known as the Australasian Darter) - that's the name of this interesting and beautiful bird. I photographed this one in Canberra on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin while it was busy drying it's wings in the warm afternoon sun.

Gone Sailing

This is the life...

Autumn in Canberra Part One: Under the Swamp Cypress

This is a Swamp Cypress growing on the bank of the Sullivans Creek that runs through the grounds of the Australian National University. This tree (like so many others) displayed the most amazing autumn colours.

There is also a Part Two, Part Three and Part Four of Autumn in Canberra.

The Old Lamppost

While walking back to my hotel room after work I came across this old broken lamppost. It is situated on McKay street, between Moore Street and Northbourne Ave in Canberra.

This image is best viewed on a large screen, click the image to load a larger version.

Under Autumn Leaves

These two young people were enjoying each other's company, relaxing on the lawn against a backdrop of vibrant Autumn colours.

Click on the image to view a larger version

Bad Hair Day

This is a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo that I photographed while in Canberra. He was happily feeding on some wild seeds until I came along and annoyed him with my camera. They are wonderful birds with great characters and very loud voices.

Eucalyptus

One of over 700 species Eucalyptus trees in Australia. This beautiful specimen was taken in Canberra.

Morning Raindrops

We are still in Canberra where I spent a very wet week. It was raining most of the time I was there resulting in millions of little raindrops displayed on every leaf and every flower.

Lichen

I took this picture of a lichen growing on a tree in Canberra while working at the Australian National University. Apparently a lichen is not a single organism, but rather a partnership between two organisms, a fungus and an alga.

You can read more about the interesting lichens found in Australia: http://www.anbg.gov.au/lichen/what-is-lichen.html

and also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen

A Study Of Ivy

During my week long stay in Canberra I walked past this Ivy plant each day on my way to the office. Of course I just had to photograph it. :)

Parliament House

These are two pictures that I took of Parliament House in Canberra. The first was taken late afternoon in the rain. I was standing on the footpath which runs parallel to Lawson Cres at the very top end of the lake.

A different view and taken much later in the evening. In this picture I put my little Kodak through it's paces, with full zoom and shutter speed set to 16 seconds. It was taken from the balcony of my hotel room at the Lakeside Park Rydges, on the corner of London Circuit and Edinburgh Ave.

Hello?

This little fellow was sitting in the rain and eyed me curiously as I passed, watching my every move, first with the one eye, then with the other. I'm glad he allowed my to take his picture, after which he promptly flew off.

Diamonds strewn across the path

I have come to the conclusion that you don't need to be at some exotic location to be presented with nature's beauty. Even in something as basic and mundane as a fallen leaf one can see the exquisite beauty that nature has to offer, free to anyone who cares to notice. I spent a week at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. When I arrived it was raining, and when I left it was raining, and all the days in between it was raining. The result was many photos featuring raindrops in various forms. This is a leaf that I captured on the side walk with diamond-like droplets. The light was not very good, which meant slow shutter speeds and slightly out of focus pictures, but my humble little Kodak did a good job in the end.

This is a close-up of another leaf that was laying next to the one shown at the top.