There's still a lot of water in the Brindabella ranges after the recent floods, but the water in this stream is running beautifully clear. Normally, the boards of the path are dry, but right now, the creek is crossing the path.



The forest has exploded into life with the rain. I saw bugs I've never seen before; does anyone have any idea what this strange insect is? It looks like an oversized mosquito, but it was the size of a small dragonfly.


Every couple of paces along the trail, a skink scrambled into the cover of the leaf litter. If you sat quietly on a log however, one might come out and warily share the warm afternoon sun with you.


As you walk, look amongst the thick grass, growing as tall as you, and you might see some tiny wildflowers.



And everywhere, insects and arachnids are flourishing. This appears to be a species of red mite, but it's huge (for a mite) as around 3 or 4 millimetres across.

[slowpez]

Nice series glorifying spring. Thanks for sharing them.

[snappychappy]

The macro work is really good, great details and very sharp, looks like a great area for the macro lens there.

[RobG]

Nice series glorifying spring. Thanks for sharing them.

Thanks Susan! Where I live, it's the end of summer, though. All the rain (double the last monthly record for March) has all living things growing madly before autumn, and it feels a bit like spring all over again.

The macro work is really good, great details and very sharp, looks like a great area for the macro lens there.

Thanks! I think I'd have preferred to try a 100mm macro, because all these shots were hand-held, and kneeling to photograph the tiny wildflowers is kind of painful! I love the results from the 35mm limited, however. Perhaps with a longer lens, I could have used a small tripod? Struggling with shallow DOF makes me appreciate the macros others have posted even more.

[RobG]

New growth on many Australian trees and shrubs is red - this is not evidence of autumn! Very few Australian plants are deciduous.