the Wireless Hill Park is part of Perth, Western Australia , Swan River .

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Mantid mastication
Made by myrmician
Jason and I checked out Wireless Hill in the evening last week because the days have been so hot. After much wandering around we were rewarded by a return appearance of that spectacular bark mantid we saw last time. This time though, we were lucky enough to observe it feeding! The victim in the picture is a Crematogaster ant. These small ants are very common and form long foraging trails which they frequent and maintain by placing down pheromones. These foraging trails are literally a conveyor belt of food as it doesn't even have to move as the ants continue to shuffle past, being plucked up one by one, unaware of the predator hanging over them! The mantid perches itself directly centered over the ant trail, its raptorial arms recoiled, ready to strike. Once it has chosen its victim, it slowly tracks it with its arms before picking it up in a flash - faster than a blink of the eye, and way faster than my reaction time in pressing the shutter as I failed to get even one shot of prey capture in progress. The mantid catches the ant so cleanly, that the other ants barely notice it has gone missing. This particular mantid always chose to decapitate its victim first before eating the rest of the body - possibly to stop the ant trying to bite it back. It was quite a gruesome affair to observe through the lens, although intriguing and hence enjoyable at the same time. The mantid repeated this process about a dozen times or so, before the flow of ants started to subside - quite possibly the foraging trail eventually realises it is losing members from lack of contact with each other, the pheromone trail is weakened and the ants eventually decide this path is not worth going down anymore. Because the mantid was moving as it ate the ant, bit by bit, I struggled to get a clear shot of its head - this was by far the best action shot, and although I missed the focus on its face the butchered ant is pretty sharp.


Ogres
Made by myrmician
Jason and I went looking for net-casting spiders (also known as ogre-faced spiders) last night. After a few encounters with weevils and the like, he found one. Then we started finding them in some abundance. The ones we found seem to prefer sheltered sites under rushes etc. that provide them access to clear sandy areas. All the ones we found were located in close proximity to nocturnal Camponotus ants. In fact, the majority of them were feeding on ant workers when we found them. One of the females I found happened to have a male sitting nearby. It was much more attractive than the drab gray female with the white stripes and a more brownish colour. Of course, it doesn't camouflage anywhere as well as the females who appear very much like dead sticks when not attending their webs. The males are much more slender with very long legs in comparison to the opposite sex. They were approximately 30mm in length.


The View From Wireless Hill Park
Made by suavehouse113
I'm probably looking at a bit of Alfred Cove and Dalkeith here. It looks like autumn, but the brown and orange trees are actually bushfire casualties. Before the area became a nature reserve, it was a telecommunications centre. This photo was taken from a viewing tower that used to be an anchor for a radio mast. From the city of Melville website: The Wireless Station was built in 1912 by the German Company – Telefunken and Co and used in World War I and II. It was used to send medical advice to ships with no doctor, as well as communication with the Antarctic bases. The Station was officially decommissioned in 1967 and vested in City of Melville in August 1969 and named Wireless Hill Park in February of 1971. The Telecommunications Museum officially opened on October 14, 1979. We just drove by this evening on a whim, but I'd like to go back sometime during the day and walk the nature trails. Ardross, Western Australia.


Electrostatic enmeshment
Made by myrmician
Recently and I have been visiting our local hunting grounds waiting to see the return of our friends, the net-casting spiders. They are indeed back, but the hunt continues for the perfect shot(s) of these amazing creatures. I really want to get a good portrait of them that shows off their huge median eyes as well as their beautiful fuzzy nets made of cribellate silk. The problem is that they make their webs so low to the ground that it is often impossible to approach them from the front without disturbing them or damaging their support lines. There was a larger one in the fork of a small tree but it was even harder to access. Hopefully we find one one night that is in a nice, open spot so I can get a portrait of it. This shot was taken at just above 1:1 magnification and this female was about 30mm in length. This photo has been rotated 90° clockwise.


Iridomyrmex sp.
Made by myrmician
Columns of (4mm) workers and alates make their way up the trunk of a Marri tree, probably to evacuate galleries of the colony that have become too moist over the last week or so, with all the rain we have been getting. A number of workers could also be seen carrying larvae and pupae, but I didn't manage to get a clear shot of them. These small Iridomyrmex ants are very common and can be found in most habitats. They produce a distinct, strong formic acid odour when crushed, which is typical of all Dolichoderine ants. Below, you can see one of the entrances to their new relocation sites. Workers were constantly patrolling the area, although weren't as active as usual because it was a cold night.


Aken [Swan Music Final Melody]
Made by Deni Chau
The guy named Aken became orphan after the death of his parents in a car accident. He was suffocated by accumulated debts left from his father. He was unable to pay them and he has been looking for a job. One terrible night his girlfriend named Alicia was infected with a curse in which she was going to die in 3 days. During Aken's search for the answer and cure for his girlfriend, he met an angel who gave him a music named 'The Swan Music' which had the mysterious ability to heal his dying girlfriend. He was also given a special power to fight Lord Lucifer who returned from Hell. Lord Lucifer was once defeated by a village man named Yulius Chen three thousand years ago. Aken only appeared in an Australian made film titled 'Swan Music Final Melody' starring Meng Kheng Tan.


The view is from the top
Made by myrmician
The cold night air did not warrant much movement on the part of this lonesome worker. I found her slowly creeping up a large wedge of bark - when she approached the top, instead of turning around to explore another area, she capriciously and very gingerly clambered up onto these 'spires' of bark to eventually perch herself in this precarious position. It was most curious. She seemed happy to just sit there. And sit there she did. And for quite some time, too. Was she revelling in having completed the climb or did she just want to take in the view? Well, you know what they say - the view is from the top.


Prickly Moses (Acacia pulchella)
Made by sloanbj
Wireless Hill Park, Ardross, Western Australia. Acacia pulchella, commonly known as prickly moses, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it is one of the most common shrubs of the bushland around Perth and in the Darling Range.\ Prickly moses is one of only a small number of Acacia species to have true leaves, rather than phyllodes. It has feathery, bipinnate leaves with leaflets up to 5 mm long. At the base of each leaf is one or two spines. The flower heads are bright yellow and spherical, with a diameter of up to 1 cm. It flowers in late winter and early spring. -wikipedia


Wireless Hill Panorama
Made by WA47 (Trying to catch up)
This is a fairly rough photostitch of 3 photos taken from the summit of Wireless Hill in Ardross, Western Australia, Australia. That is Perth City skyline on the right, and all the water is the Swan River Estuary. This place surprised me even though I had been aware of it's existence as a picnic spot and Telecommunications Museum for many years. The site has a quite extensive area of bushland with a good variety of trees and shrubs and many wildflowers. There is also a large number of birds including several species that I have not seen in my usual haunts around the Canning River.


Rainbow Bee-eater
Made by GJ Fotos
There I was, scouring the Complete Book of Australian Birds to identify this little bird which I sighted up at Wireless Hill. When the section of honey-eaters drew blank I started after the waders and kept going until I reached the bee-eaters. Honey-eater, bee-eater... maybe they are related after all? With similar colours for male and female, the difference is in the width of the tail and length of the tail plume, which is longer in the male. This is the male bee-eater. That said, maybe he is undecided, as one of the plumes is long and the other very truncated!


Pink Myrtle or Swan River Myrtle (Hypoclymma robustum)
Made by sloanbj
Hypocalymma robustum (Swan River Myrtle) is a species of shrub in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to the south west region of Western Australia.[1] It usually grows up to between 0.4 and 1 metre in height. Pink flowers are produced between June and November (early winter to late spring) in its native range.[1] The species was initially given the name Leptospermum robustum without description, and later formally described by botanist John Lindley in Edward's Botanical Register in 1843 Wireless Hill, Ardross, Perth, Western Australia


Kangaroo paw catching a ray of light
Made by KC Tan Photography
A close up of a flower raceme of the Mangle kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos manglesii). This particular kangaroo paw was growing under the shade of a Marri tree. A ray of light broke through the canopy and illuminated the specimen. The Mangles kangaroo paw is the flora emblem of Western Australia. Please visit www.kctanphotography.com or www.facebook.com/kctanphotography


Black and white
Made by myrmician
The smaller Myrmecia species are known as jack-jumpers for their peculiar habit of making a series of small rapid jumps to quickly cover ground. This particular species belongs to the M. urens sp. gp and is currently an undescribed species known as M. urens group sp. JDM1. It is the most common of its type along the Darling Range and adjoining Swan Coastal Plain. I don't usually like to photograph ants ex situ, but it worked out resonably well here.


Western Limestone Ctenotus Poses for Me
Made by WA47 (Trying to catch up)
Ctenotus australis (SVL 100 mm). I am rapidly discovering that, as with birds, most reptiles that you see belong to the same few common species. I don't have that many photos of reptiles, but apart from a dugite, the other five species I have seen on at least two occasions. This is the third time that I have seen this species, but these are the best photos that I have. Notice that the tail is nearly twice as long as the snout-vent length (SVL) quoted above.


Aname sp.
Made by myrmician
These spiders have no lids to their burrow, but will collapse them if disturbed. They sit just below the entrance waiting for prey to pass by, which they then strike at with great speed. We lured this one out by pretending to be potential prey. Note how it will not completely leave it's burrow, but hangs on with it's rear legs so it can retreat quickly if threatened. This one was quite robust and sat around 30mm in length, if I remember correctly.


Kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos manglesii)
Made by sloanbj
Kangaroo paw is a common name for a number of species, in two genera of the family Haemodoraceae, that are endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. These perennial plants are noted for their unique bird attracting flowers. The tubular flowers are coated with dense hairs and open at the apex with six claw-like structures: from this paw formation the common name Kangaroo Paw is derived. Wireless Hill, Ardross, Perth, Western Australia


Pansy Orchid (Diuris magnifica)
Made by sloanbj
Wireless Hill Park, Ardross, Western Australia. The scientific name is derived from the Greek words dis (double) and oura (tail), referring to the two lateral drooping sepals, giving a tailed appearance. The common name Donkey Orchid is logically derived from the appearance of the two lateral petals, protruding from the top of the flower like the two ears of a donkey. These features give Diuris its easily recognizable appearance.


The sentry
Made by myrmician
Peering, seemingly purposefully, below, this lone Camponotus worker takes in the view from atop her vantage point. Directly beneath her, ants scurry back and forth, moving their alates, larvae and pupae to a new location. Does she sit and wait for their activity to cease, so that she may forage unhindered? Does she simply scout, or is there something more sinister on her mind...? Be sure to view the larger sizes :}


Phoroncidia sp.
Made by myrmician
These tiny (3mm) spiders are in the same family as red-back spiders, but are quite different in form and habit. This species does not build a regular theridiid 'lattice' web, but instead only has a single horizontal line of silk as it's snare. During the day they hide near the tips of branches on low vegetation, coming out at night to tend to their single line of web. This shot was taken at close to 4:1 magnification.


Antelope orchid or Dancing orchid (Caladenia discoidea)
Made by sloanbj
This medium sized, cool to cold growing terrestrial species is from Western Australia in mallee vegetation, and woodlands in sandy soil at elevations of 10 to 150 meters and has pubescent stems carrying a single linear-ovate to lanceolate leaf and blooms on an erect, 18 [45 cm] long, 1 to 4 flowered inflorescence occuring in the late winter and spring. Wireless Hill, Ardross, Perth, Western Australia