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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Two immature male Satin Bowerbirds, one with the blue-black plumage of adult males, and the other looking out from the bower they have constructed with the greenish plumage of younger males. New South Wales, Australia #birds #bowerbirds #WildOz #wildlife #nature

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

A juvenile male Satin Bowerbird in front of his practice bower. Adult Satin Bowerbirds use such bowers for courtship. Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #birds #bowerbirds #WildOz #wildlife #nature

Female Satin Bowerbirds are medium-sized, cryptically colored birds, predominantly olive-green on their backs with brownish wings and tails, and creamy underbodies marked with dark, scalloped, or crescent-shaped patterns. They are distinguished by their bright violet-blue eyes. Bowers are two-walled, twig-constructed 'avenues'.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

This juvenile male Satin Bowerbird is bringing another stick to add to his practice bower. Adult Satin Bowerbirds use such bowers for courtship. Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #birds #bowerbirds #WildOz #wildlife #nature

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

This immature male Satin Bowerbird is half way between the the greenish plumage of younger males and the blue-black plumage of adult males. He is practising one of the moves he will use as an adult to impress females. New South Wales, Australia #birds #bowerbirds #WildOz #wildlife #nature

Most of his plumage is blue-black, but he is flinging his wings up, revealing underparts which are still yellowish - characteristic of the younger male. He holds a blue bottle top in his beak. Satin Bowerbirds love blue things.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

One immature male Satin Bowerbird practices the display he will use to impress females when he grows up. Another watches from their ramshackle play-bower. Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #birds #bowerbirds #australianwildlife #WildOz #wildlife #nature #birdvideos #naturevideos

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

A Yellow-tailed black cockatoo enjoying some banksia seeds. Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #birds #australianbirds #WildOz #parrots #nature #cockatoos

A large cockatoo native to the south-east of Australia measuring 55–65 cm (22–26 in) in length. Its plumage is mostly brownish black and it has a prominent yellow cheek patch. As it has a black beak and pinkish-red eye-rings, it is a male. It is in a banksia bush with late afternoon yellow light behind. In one of its claws is an old banksia woody fruit, which it is processing for seeds.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

A female King Parrot processing Straight Wattle (Acacia stricta) seeds Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #birds #australianbirds #WildOz #parrots #nature #green #wattle

She is mostly green, and is reaching up to reach the wattle seeds. The whole photo is very green!

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Adult Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua) and sleepy youngster in Mangerton Park, New South Wales, Australia. The largest owl in Australia. #birds #Australianbirds #WildOz #owls #Australianphotography #wildlife

The powerful owl has a long tail and a small head, giving it an atypical silhouette for an owl. The upper parts are dark grey-brown, mottled, and barred with whitish. The underparts are white with bold, grey-brown, V-shaped barring. This species has large yellow eyes, with greyish feathering down to the base of the toes and feet of a dull yellow colour.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

The Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) emerging from the south-east last week. Taken from a lookout near Fitzroy Falls in New South Wales, Australia. #landscape #Australia #Astrophotography #Nightphotography #Aurora #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights #nightscape #Southernhighlands

You are looking down a deep, wooded valley, with the tops of one or two Eucalyptus trees in the foreground. The sides of the valley are capped with sandstone cliffs. The Aurora Australis is emerging from the south-east (left of the photo), magenta in colour.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Tawny Frogmouth adult with chick Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #birds #Australianbirds #WildOz #Wildlife #nature

They look very like owls, though in fact there is a number of differences between owls and frogmouths. The parent has its eyes closed while the chick looks out sleepily with its eyes open. They are sitting on a rather roughly put together nest in a Jacaranda tree.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Pigeonberry ash tree Elaeocarpus kirtonii, a large rainforest tree with buttress roots growing among ferns and palms in rainforest in the Mt Keira area of New South Wales, Australia. #trees #forests #rainforest #nature #WildOz #TreeOfTheDay #naturephotography #intimatelandscape

There are a variety of ground ferns (some with dead red leaves), tree ferns, and epiphytes up in the trees. The Pigeonberry ash is in the centre with smaller trees behind. There is a little fog.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

A Crimson Rosella taking off Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #Australia #birds #WildOz #ozbirds #nature #flight

The rosella is taking off from a tree on a sunny day. Its wings are outstretched. It has mostly crimson plumage and bright blue cheeks. The feathers of the back and wing coverts are black broadly edged with red. The flight feathers of the wings have broad blue edges and the tail is blue.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Sydney Peppermint tree recovering from fire A photo from the archives. This tree had lost most of its leaves in the 'Black Summer' fires in Australia in 2019, but is putting out new shoots. These shoots grow from buds lying underneath the bark. #Australia #trees #WildOz #TreeOfTheDay #resilience

The tree in the foreground has a blackened trunk. The new leaves are bright red, magenta, and orange. This is due to anthocyanin, a pigment that protects the leaves from insect predation and from sun damage. In the distance are some Scribbly-gum trees with orange trunks, due to the fire.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Rainbow Lorikeets fighting over a Swamp banksia flower spike (Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia) #birds #flight #WildOz #nature #Australianphotography #australianbirds #birdsinflight #banksias

The head of the rainbow lorikeet is deep blue with a greenish-yellow nuchal collar, and the rest of the upper parts (wings, back and tail) are green. The chest is orange/yellow. The belly is deep blue, and the thighs and rump are green.
One lorikeet is on the flower spike, feeding from nectar and pollen, while another is landing more or less on the first bird.
The flower spike is a yellow-green colour. In the distance the sea can be just made out.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Trigger Plant The 'trigger' consists of a unique floral column in which the stamen and style are fused. It snaps forward quickly in response to touch, covering the insect in pollen. Most of the approximately 300 species are only found in Australia. #FridayFlowers #Flowers #Australia #nature #wildoz

The distinctive floral column (or 'trigger') lies below the plane of the flower. The magenta-pink flowers are zygomorphic, which means they are only symmetrical in one plane.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

A Rainbow Lorikeet taking off from a Swamp Banksia flower spike Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #Australianphotography #birds #australianbirds #WildOz #nature #flight #birdsinflight #banksias

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

A male Superb Lyrebird displaying on a fallen branch in rainforest on Mount Keira in New South Wales, Australia. A female is nearby. This is part of his courtship routine. #birds #WildOz #rainforest #nature #Australianbirds

The superb lyrebird is a large, pheasant-sized bird about 1 metre (39 inches) in length. The plumage colour is mainly dark brown on the upper body, with greyish-brown underparts and red-tinged flight feathers. In this photo he is fanning out his tail horizontally to cover his body and head, and calling out.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Banksia robur flower spike close-up Banksia flower spikes may contain hundreds or even thousands of individual flowers. This is a close-up of some of the buds on one flower spike. Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #FlowersonFriday #FridayFlowers #Flowers #patterns #close-up #nature #details

Tiny turquoise buds radiating on magenta stems from an orange-brown core. Bright green and yellow of the leaves on the left.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Noisy miners fighting over a Swamp banksia flower spike (Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia) #birds #flight #WildOz #nature

Noisy miners are grey birds with black heads, orange-yellow beaks and feet, yellow patches behind the eye, and white tips on the tail feathers. In this photo one is facing away from the camera with its wings and tail fullu outstretched, while the other begins to dart away. In the distance a large tree and the sea can be dimly made out.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

This is a Moreton Bay fig tree (Ficus macrophylla) growing in subtropical rainforest at Minnamurra, New South Wales, Australia. These trees can grow up to 60 metres (200 feet) high and nearly as wide. #trees #forests #rainforest #nature #WildOz #TreeOfTheDay #naturephotography #intimatelandscape

The tree is so big that it has a kind of archway through the trunk, where I am standing to give an idea of the scale. A buttress root comes from the tree towards the viewer. Cabbage palm leaves decorate the scene.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

A kind parrot preening A young male I think. In a garden in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. #birds #australianbirds #WildOz #parrots #nature

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Tall rainforest trees The Illawarra Escarpment near Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia #landscape #landscapephotography #Australianphotography #forests #rainforest #trees

A rainforest scene with tall trees, large sandstone boulders, and several different ferns and groundcovers. Green and blue in tone, with a pinkish cloud behind in the sky.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Galah Portrait With his crest raised like this he reminds me of certain eighteenth century paintings of women, such as the one of Marie Antoinette by Joseph Ducreux Poster. Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #Australia #birds #WildOz #ozbirds #nature #portrait #cockatoos #parrots

A large parrot with a rose-pink head, neck, and underparts and a paler pink crown, raised in this photograph.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Wave action at Bombo Bombo quarry, now a heritage site near Kiama in New South Wales, Australia. The columns, moulded by wave action, are the remains of ancient volcanic dykes. #landscapephotography #Australianphotography #seascape #landscape #waves #geology #rocks

The tall, dark basalt columns of Bombo Headland give the area a moon-like ambience. In this photo waves are crashing into these columns, with a small rainbow in the sky.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

The Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) from near Fitzroy Falls, New South Wales, Australia last night. It put on quite a show! #landscape #Australia #Astrophotography #Nightphotography #Aurora #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights

You are looking down a deep, wooded valley towards a crazily vibrant light show in the sky, with yellow, orange, red, and magenta colours. The light from the Aurora also reaches a few trees close to the camera in the foreground.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

The bugs are back! Hibiscus harlequin bugs, common in Eastern Australia, New Guinea and several Pacific Islands. #bugs #insects #wildlife #ozinverts; #WildOz #nature #close-up #naturephotography #Australia

Hibiscus Harlequin Bug are brightly coloured shield-shaped bugs with a metallic sheen. The colours are quite variable, and experiments suggest that the variation in colour may reduce bird predation, especially on the immature stages. Most of the bugs in this photo are red, and clustered together on an Hibiscus leaf. There is one larger (presumably older) blue bug.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Burnt Scribbly gum bark The larvae of tiny moths burrow under the bark of these trees. When they lose their old bark, the trails of the larvae can be seen as 'scribbles'. Royal National Park, New South Wales, Australia #Australianphotography #naturephotography #WildOz #trees #patterns #bark

The bark captured in this photograph was from a tree recovering from fire, which made it particularly bright and colourful, mainly orange and yellow with jet black scribbles.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Fog in the Jamison Valley Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales, Australia. The Three Sisters are nearby on the left, and Mount Solitary is in the middle distance on the right. #landscape #Australianphotography #BlueMountains #ThreeSisters #fog #MountSolitary

The Three Sisters consist in three weathered sandstone peaks, set among the cliffs of the Jamison Valley.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

A Rainbow Lorikeet on a Hairpin Banksia (Banksia spinulosa). Hairpin Banksia flower spikes may contain hundreds or even thousands of individual flowers. Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #Australianphotography #birds #australianbirds #WildOz #nature #ozbirds #flowers

The head is deep blue with a greenish-yellow nuchal collar, and the rest of the upper parts (wings, back and tail) are green. The chest is orange/yellow. The belly is deep blue, and the thighs and rump are green. The Hairpin Banksia flower spikes are a rich golden colour.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

This is a 'Yellow Monday' cicada, I believe, in the Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales, Australia. #Australia #naturephotography #cicada #bug #insect #wildlife #ozinverts #WildOz

A large orange cicada quite close up on a tree on the right, with the sandstone cliffs of the Blue Mountains out of focus on the left.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Hairpin banksia (Banksia spinulosa) flower spike Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #FlowersonFriday #FridayFlowers #Flowers #naturephotography #WildOz #ozplants

The flower spike is viewed from above, with the tiny individual flowers spiralling away from the centre. The flower is a rich golden colour, with a green background.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Surf photos from yesterday in Australia, all using Intentional Camera Movement (ICM), a method in which one moves the camera deliberately during the exposure for creative effect. (Not to be confused with UCM.) #ICM #blur #IntentionalCameraMovement #surf #surfing #waves

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

‘Strangler’ fig tree Strangler figs begin life on a tree branch high up in the canopy of another tree. They send their roots down along the trunk of the host tree. In time these aerial roots fuse together, eventually completely engulfing the host tree. #Australia #nature #TreeOfTheDay #Trees

In this photo you see the strangler fig at quite an early stage in 'strangling' the host tree. A number of aerial roots are wrapped around the host tree, but they have not engulfed it yet.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Sulphur-crested cockatoos in flight Cacatua galerita, they often flock together in high numbers. Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia #FlyDay #birds #australianbirds #nature #Australianphotography

Around a dozen large white cockatoos in flight in a sunset sky with subtle blue and pink notes.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Veiled Lady stinkhorn A Veiled Lady stinkhorn (Phallus indusiatus) in the centre, and some Ruby Bonnets (Cruentomycena viscidocruenta) in the bottom left. Photographed in rainforest on Mt Keira, New South Wales, Australia. #nature #fungifriends #mushroommonday #fungi #mushroom

The fruit body of the Veiled Lady has a conical to bell-shaped cap on a stalk and a delicate lacy "skirt", or indusium, that hangs from beneath the cap and reaches nearly to the ground. the Ruby Bonnets are small and red. There are also many fallen leaves.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Surfers on an enormous wave at Sandon Point, New South Wales, Australia this week. An ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) shot. #ICM #blur #surf #surfing #waves

Three surfers at different levels on a wave of about 18 feet. An Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) shot is one in which one moves the camera deliberately during the exposure for creative effect.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Grey-headed Flying fox mother and cub Pteropus poliocephalus, one of the largest bats in Australia with a wingspan of over 1 metre. It is listed as a Vulnerable Species. Blackbutt Reserve, Shellharbour, New South Wales, Australia. #Australia #nature #FlyDay #australianwildlife #wildoz #bats

The mother has a rusty red-brown collar of neck fur, a light grey head, dark-grey body, and leg fur that extends to the ankle, which is characteristic of the species. She hangs upside down in a tree, with one wing outstretched. The cub clings to her body.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Big waves at Bombo Bombo quarry, now a heritage site near Kiama in New South Wales, Australia. The columns, moulded by wave action, are the remains of ancient volcanic dykes. #landscapephotography #Australianphotography #seascape #rocks #waves #bigwaves

The tall, dark basalt columns of Bombo Headland give the area a moon-like ambience. In this photo large waves are crashing into these columns, with a stormy sky above.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

A Tachinid fly on a Scribbly-gum tree. You can see a 'scribble' on the bark (see alt text for more info), and some chino (gum) oozing down. Dharawal National Park, New South Wales, Australia #Australia #trees #close-up #WildOz #invertebrates #nature

The fly has red eyes and very long legs, and the bark, gum, and scribble are all in striking shades of red, orange, and yellow. The 'scribbles' on the bark of this tree are made by the larvae of tiny moths, which burrow under the bark to feed. Scribbly-gum trees shed their old bark each year, and when they do so the trails of the larvae can be seen as ‘scribbles’ on the new bark.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Woman with phone A view of the Grose Valley from Walls Lookout in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. #landscapephotography #Australia #BlueMountains #panorama

The valley is huge. The mountains are topped with sandstone cliffs. The sky is complex, moving towards sunset. The woman is hard to see at first, hidden in the vast scene.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Cathedral Rocks Early in the morning at Kiama Downs, New South Wales, Australia. I believe that most of the little sea creatures in the foreground are Zebra Top Shells (Austrocochlea porcata). #landscapephotography #Australianphotography #naturephotography #seascape

Boulders in the foreground and middle ground with the Zebra Top Shells, which have a black-and-white banded pattern overlying a light grey to white shell. Sea stacks in the distance under a stunningly bright yellow-white-blue sky.

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Keith Horton @keithhortonphotos.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

The Big Wave This photograph was taken in Wollongong, south of Sydney in Australia. The waves were big that day, but this wave seemed out of all proportion to the others. #Australianphotography #naturephotography #seascape #waves #Blackandwhite

The photo looks a little bit like that famous Japanese print, 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa', a woodblock print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. But no Mount Fuji in the distance!

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