January Photo Challenge is Nature:Life

Di's photo challenge for January is Nature with a subtitle of Life. A very broad subject indeed, Di! There should be no excuses for missing this one.

Here's a few that I have taken over the last few months.

A little boring in composition, but I do like the way the light glints from their eyes.

i used a Zoom lens as they were too cautious to get close to.

One of the Magpies that comes to Mum's to be fed. They only come to get fed when they are feeding babies, and not every day. It depends on what other food is available.They come to the courtyard and sing for their food.

Ants farming scale insects.

The top photo was taken with flash as it was late afternoon and in the shade.

The photo below was taken without the flash.

Personally, I prefer the photo without flash. I like the muted light and the ant silhouettes.

Which do you prefer?

NNN

More on my visitor

I promised some more photos of my garden visitor. Well, he/she is no longer a visitor, but has decided to become , much to my delight, a resident!

Yes, Sheila, you were right. It's a Blue Tongue Lizard. (Fooled some of you, didn't I? Couldn't resist! LOL)

This one has had a hard time of it before coming here. It's back has been injured so severely, you can see the obvious line of injury, just above the back legs. From there down, it appears to be paralyzed. It also has a large lump on the front claw pad, so turns the claw over and uses the back to get around. Must be hard work, pulling itself along with one good leg, one problem leg, and the rest of the body dragging behind.

It has gratefully accepted a little minced steak on the odd occasion. Not that it will eat while I am there, yet, but if I drop the meat nearby, and go away, it gets eaten.

Things have also changed with the way I deal with snails! Instead of stomping on them when I see them ( I have never used baits), I now carry them out to the back area where the lizard has been seen, and carefully place them in the sheltered places the lizard goes; a veritable smorgasboard for his/her delectation!

The first time I let Minka, the cat, out when I knew it was there, I sat outside to monitor proceedings. She sniffed the air and knew something was out there, then proceeded to cautiously follow the scent. When she spotted it, she froze and watched to gauge the danger. She was concentrating so hard on it, I was able to creep up behind her, tap her on the back and say firmly, with warning tones, NO! She was so startled, she jumped and ran back to the steps. Now, when she goes out, she sniffs ths air, and if she smells it around, she stays near the steps. I still keep an eye on things, though, just in case. She is, however, getting older, and takes life a little more slowly and cautiously these days, so I don't think she'll bother it. She sits and watches the doves, and never attempts to close in on them, having learned long ago, that they have her measure and know how much distance to keep.

Visitor

A recent visitor to our garden. More photos to come.