Photographs by Ian Walker

Ian's great love and respect for nature comes shining through in his sensitive, artistic, nature photography. Spending hours in the Australian bush to capture birds and plants within their natural environment. Ian never picks plants to enable an easier shot, within a studio lit environment.

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Passion Bee #1

Passion Flower with Bee

Passion Flower [Passiflora;Disemma]

There are about 500 species of flowering plants in the Passifloraceae family. The Passiflora incarnata pictured above grows on a vine. It's unique flower structure requires a large bee to effectively pollinate it.

Unfortunately these glorious flowers only last for about a day, however they are prolific, as is the sumptuous fruit.

Besides the Fruit, Passiflora incarnata's leaves and roots have a long history of medicinal use.

 The fresh or dried leaves are used to make an infusion, a tea that is used to treat insomnia, hysteria, and epilepsy, and is also valued for its painkilling properties.  It has been found to contain beta-carboline harmala alkaloids which are MAOi's [ Monoamine oxidase inhibitors] with anti-depressant properties. Particularly effective in treating atypical depression, and have also shown efficacy in helping smokers to quit.

"Passion" does not refer to love, but to the Passion of Christ on the cross. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries discovered this flower and adopted its unique physical structures as symbols of the Crucifixion. The 72 radial filaments (or corona) represent the Crown of Thorns. The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles. The top 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails and the lower 5 anthers represent the 5 wounds.

the vine is very easy to grow, likes slightly acid and well drained soil and plenty of sunshine. It will grow from cuttings and seed. In the sub-tropics the vine produces passion fruits for six months of the year.

Tea Tree Bee #2

Bee Pollinating Tea Tree Blossom.

Tea Tree

Leptospermum polygalifolium 'Pacific Beauty'      family MYRTACEAE.

Tea Tree obtained its name through the use of its leaves infused in boiling water and used as a tea substitute by early settlers. There are  83 recognized species of Tea Tree in Australia of which 81 are endemic. They are easy to propagate from cuttings or seeds, will grow in poor soils with acid conditions and are salt spray tolerant. They make good screen plants because of their dense foliage.

Tea Tree oil The term "tea tree oil" is somewhat of a misnomer since Melaleuca alternifolia is a paperbark rather than a tea tree (genus Leptospermum). Tea tree oil should also not be confused with tea oil, the sweetish seasoning and cooking oil from pressed seeds of the tea plant Camellia sinensis or the tea oil plant Camellia oleifera.

Thistle Landing #3

Butterfly landing on a Thistle

Papillo aegeus Donovan.

Commonly named Large citrus butterfly, orchard butterfly and orchard swallowtail. Landing on a thistle.

Most of the tall Onopordum seen in Australia are hybrids with a full range of genetic intermediates between Scotch Thistle and Illyrian thistle, Onopordum illyricum and with some genes for species not recorded from Australia. Bract width around heads particularly reflects this variation.

Skink #4

Black Rock Skink

Egernia saxatilis intermedia [Black Rock Skink]

 Is a medium-sized viviparous skink, up to 130-mm snout to vent length.  It inhabits rocky outcrops throughout southeastern Australia . It lives in groups, with the degree of sociality ranging from solitary animals to large aggregations, up to 13 individuals, including offspring from several cohorts, but it is most commonly found in small territorial "nuclear family" groups one adult male, one adult female, and their current year's 1 to 4 offspring born February to March.

B O Bug #5

Blue and Orange Bug

We have not yet identified this elaborately colored bug , perhaps you can help?

If you know what this bug is called please email us.

Black Swans #6

Red Billed Black Swans

The Black Swan, Cygnus atratus, is a large non-migratory water bird which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest of Australia. The Black Swan was formerly placed into a monotypic genus, Chenopis.

The Black Swan is commonly found in the wetlands of southern Australia. Unfortunately, human inhabitance has decreased the population of the swan. The current global population of the Black Swan is approximately around 500,000 individuals.

The Black Swan is 130cm (52in) long and weighs up to 9kg (20lbs). It has all black plumage, except for the red bill, dark grey legs and white tips on the wing feathers. The neck is long and curved in an "S". There is a white bar near the tip of the red bill. Both sexes are similar, with the female slightly smaller and lighter than the male. The cygnets have light grey plumage.

The Southern Hemisphere swan species differ from the all-white Northern Hemisphere swans in that they all have some black plumage, but only the Black Swan is almost completely black. Its closest living relative is probably the Mute Swan which is most similar, except in its plumage.

Adult Black Swans moult and become flightless each year. During this time they gather in flocks on open lakes. Their diet consists mainly of water plants and near-shore vegetation. Unlike many other water birds, they spend their entire lives in the area where they were hatched.

Like other swans, the Black Swan is largely monogamous, pairing for life. According to the Web site "Live Science", same-sex couples make up to 20 percent of all Black Swan pairings each year, and approximately 25 percent of all Black Swan pairs are of the same sex, and may live together for years. Sometimes, a male in a pair will mate with a female. After she lays eggs, the two-male pair will chase her away and raise her eggs themselves. In other cases, same-sex pairs drive the breeding pairs away from their nests and take over the nest and eggs.

The swans nest on large mounds build in the middle of a shallow lake and reuse the nest every year, restoring or rebuilding it as needed. Male and female swans share the care of the nest, and once the cygnets are fledged, it is not uncommon to see the parents and young swans looking for food together.

Black Swans were discovered by the expedition of Willem de Vlamingh to the west coast of Australia in 1697. Their discovery created great interest in Europe, where "all swans are white" had long been used as a standard example of a well-known scientific truth. The birds are also found along the east coast of Australia, Tasmania and were recently reintroduced into New Zealand. Prior to the arrival of the Māori, a sub-species known as the New Zealand Swan lived in New Zealand. This subspecies was hunted to extinction.

The Black Swan is also very popular as an ornamental water bird in Western Europe, especially Britain, and escapes are commonly reported. As of yet the population in Britain is not considered to be self-sustaining and so the species is not afforded admission to the official British List, but the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust have recorded a maximum of nine breeding pairs in the UK in 2001 with an estimate of 43 feral birds in 2003/04 (though that is undoubtedly an under-estimate given the level of monitoring undertaken).

The Black Swan is protected under the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974. It is the official state emblem of Western Australia, and has made it's way onto the Flag of Western Australia. It is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Crested Pigeon #7

THE CRESTED PIGEON

The Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) is a bird found throughout mainland Australia except for far tropical north areas. There are only two Australian pigeon species that possess an erect crest, being the Crested Pigeon and the Spinifex Pigeon. The Crested Pigeon is the larger of the two species.

The length of the Crested Pigeon varies from 30 to 34 centimeters (12 to 13.6 inches). Habitat is grasslands, brush and wooded areas but they can also be seen at watercourses, homestead gardens, pastoral areas, sports grounds, and golf courses. Their habitat has expanded since settlement has produced pastoral lands (previously they were only found in inland and Western Australia). Foraging for grain, has adapted to grain farming areas, often feeding on the noxious weed of Salvation Jane. They are commonly known by the misnomer of "Topknot" pigeon, however the Topknot Pigeon is in fact a different species, Lopholaimus antarcticus.

Coloration is grey with tinges of brown. It has a feathered but slender, black spike on top of head. They run with the crest erect. There is a bright orange ring around each of its eyes. Wings have black stripes and are bronzed, while the primary feathers have colorful areas of brown, purple, blue and green. Immature birds have duller colors with no bronzing on the wings.

Their most distinctive behavior is the beating and whistling sound their wings make when they take off. This is most likely to draw the attention of predators to birds on the wing, and away from any birds remaining on the ground. When the birds land, the tail tilts upwards and the flight patterns are similar to  those of the Spotted Turtle-Dove. They are generally sedentary. Although they can be seen in pairs usually they are highly social and tend to be seen in packs. They are highly gregarious birds when in contact with humans.

While they breed throughout the year, it is more common in the warmer months. Nesting usually occurs in shrubs or trees. Nests usually consist of a platform of twigs. They lay two oval, white  glossy eggs.

Voice: "whoop"! voiced repeatedly but singly when alarmed.

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