Chthoniid's Wildlife Photography: Recently Added Galleries and Collections

Orbwebs

chthoniid@actrix.co.nz (Chthoniid's Wildlife Photography) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:32:15 GMT

NZ has an estimated 3000 native species of spiders.

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chthoniid@actrix.co.nz

Chinese Birds

chthoniid@actrix.co.nz (Chthoniid's Wildlife Photography) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:20:11 GMT

These are shots of birds I've taken while in China on tiger conservation expeditions. Most are of the red-crowned crane, up in the Zhalong Reserve. They are some of my oldest DSLR bird photographs, and alas, were taken during a very narrow window-of-opportunity (in full sun, hence the struggleagainst blown highlights). I've recently re-edited these crane photos to offset my old enthusiasm for saturated images.

I'd love to return some day and put in some good early morning shooting of the different bird species there.

White Tailed Spiders

chthoniid@actrix.co.nz (Chthoniid's Wildlife Photography) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:47:26 GMT

Lamprona murina An Australian immigrant to NZ since the late 19th C.

This species has poor eye sight. It is often found around residential homes. Recently it has been blamed for an upsurge in bad reactions to spider bites. It is not obvious such a reputation is deserved. Many insect bites are attribute to spiders if there is an adverse reaction. Many people do not see the arthropod that bites them anyway. So many bites or reactions are probably mis-diagnoses.

The spider is not poisonous to people, hence there is no anti-venom. It is possible that bacteria get introduced with bites. This can cause ulcerous infections.

The prudent thing to do in the case of any insect or spider bite is to apply a little anti-septic cream as soon as possible. Letting novel bacteria run free in your blood-stream, is far more dangerous than the original bite or scratch.

Shags

chthoniid@actrix.co.nz (Chthoniid's Wildlife Photography) — Sun, 31 May 2009 01:38:14 GMT

Just Tigers

chthoniid@actrix.co.nz (Chthoniid's Wildlife Photography) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 08:10:00 GMT

Tigers have been in decline throughout most of Asia due to a combination of threats. I've been involvd in their conservation through the Chinese State Forestry Administration since January 2007. So these are photos I've taken in China itself.

China is home to 4 of the 6 surviving sub-species of tigers. So the potential for China to improve the status of this species is immense.