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A Golden Day

24 Nov

 

Dear Reader:

The track is quite steep and the scrub dense. I can hear birds calling and catch fleeting glimpses of tiny finches foraging deep in the bushes. At the same time a group of lorikeets are feeding on eucalyptus blossoms in the canopy. But the birds are wary on this warm spring morning and keep moving out of camera range. Periodically, the eroded openings of narrow mine shafts, fenced off for safety, appear on both sides of the trail. I stop to reflect on the men who worked these dangerous tunnels armed only with buckets, ropes and spades. At the top of the hill, where I started my walk, a restored miner’s cottage and the weathered skeletons of a rock crusher and derrick suggest that the area had once been the centre of a sizeable mining operation.

1 mining equipment

Mining equipment

 

I am at the Barossa Goldfields about 40 kms from Adelaide between Williamstown and Gawler. At its peak in 1870, the lure of gold attracted around 4000 hopeful souls to these hills and over 25000 ounces of the precious metal was extracted. The site has been carefully restored by volunteers and is in the Para Wirra National Park; a worthwhile stop en route to the Barossa wineries if you care to take the back roads rather than the main highway. There is a network of well marked trails to suit walkers of all abilities and many excellent interpretive signs that cover everything from local geology to the everyday life of the original miners.

2 Cicadas

Cicadas

At the bottom of the trail there is a small creek still flowing from this year’s ample winter rains and as I cross it a kookaburra takes flight from a low branch where it had been watching for prey. The air is warm and buzzing with the calls of cicadas. I find a small eucalypt that seems to have more than its share of the ‘noisy little buggers’ and sit quietly in its shade for the next half hour trying to get a half decent shot.

4 Wattle bird

Wattle bird

 

As the trail climbs back out of the gully the terrain changes; the thick scrub gives way to more open grassland interspersed with stands of tall eucalypts. In the distance I catch sight of a pair of western grey kangaroos but they bound off over a ridge as I approach them. A scattering of rosellas are feeding in the grass and a wattle bird squawks defiance at a group of miner birds that are encroaching on its territory.

3 sleepy lizard

Sleepy lizard or shingleback skink

As the track takes a sharp bend I come across a sign that indicates a short cut back to the cottage and car park where I started my journey. It seems an opportune time to sit under a tree and take a ‘swig’ from my water bottle. However, I am not the only one who finds this a convenient resting place. I hear a faint rustling sound by my feet and a sleepy lizard materialises between a couple of rocks, its pine cone scales shiny and dark in the dappled light.

 

5 Grevillias

Grevillea flowers

 

I leave the lizard to its shady refuge and continue on my way, happy with my wildlife sightings and ready to wind up a successful morning’s trek. Close to the cottage another trail head appears. This track drops down sharply into a gully and I can see that the terrain has changed yet again. The soil is gravelly and grass trees, grevilleas and a variety of small plants with yellow, lilac and orange flowers, decorate the understory.

6 Grasshopper

Grasshopper species

The ever present eucalypts are a smaller more gnarled species. A few cicadas still buzz in the trees but on closer examination I can see a variety of other insects in the scrub including a glorious little cricket with ‘pink-camo-splotches’.

7 Grass tree amongst low eucalypts

Grass tree amongst stand of low growing eucalypts

 

I walk a couple of hundred metres further and realise that this trail is worth more than a cursory glance- but not today. And so ‘Dear Readers’ I look forward to another hike around the goldfields and the opportunity to share whatever I find with you.

 

Cheers

Baz

 

 

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Family Life at Walker Flat

11 Oct

The road from Mannum to Walker Flat is a classic Australian drive. With low hills to the left and the river on the right it winds past limestone cliffs and mallee scrub. It is a short drive of no more than 30 kms but there is ample opportunity to get out of the car and wander around in the scrub or capture a panoramic shot of the river. The countryside is typical of the Murray Mallee zone. Mallee are smallish eucalypts that have numerous trunks growing from the same base. They are of uniform height and stretch for kilometres in an unbroken forest. The hills are predominantly limestone based and where the river cuts through them it exposes a wonderful array of fossils.

walkers flat cliffs

Limestone cliffs a Walker flat

 

 

As you come down the hill into Walker Flat the river takes a sweeping bend exposing ochre coloured cliffs that rise abruptly from the water. There is small community of shack owners, a general store and places to camp, launch a boat or cross the river on an old fixed line ferry. The area has several billabongs; backwaters fed by floods; and it was these that I had come to explore. Even as I drove down from the low hills to meet the river I could see a flock of pelicans cruising along the main channel of the river.

Pelican feeding as a group

Pelicans feeding as a group

 

Camera in hand, I walked along a dirt trail that followed the course of a large billabong that was bordered by thick stands of reeds and some old eucalypts. My quick reconnaissance was useful and I located a dozen different bird and insect species in the first few minutes. However, the wildlife seemed very wary and scattered at my approach. Accordingly, I resorted to my favourite strategy for capturing images under these circumstances and found a quiet spot with a clear view in every direction, settled down and waited.

little wattlebird

A little wattlebird, one of the many bird species along the billabong

Within twenty minutes or so the rhythm of the river bank seemed to return to normal. So long as I didn’t make any sudden movements or sounds most of the wildlife seemed to view me as a part of the environment and I, in turn, started to notice the hidden things that were going on all round me. Twenty metres in front of me the reeds began to move and a purple swamp hen emerged delicately grasping the plants with his outrageously huge feet. I eased the big lens up slowly for a better look and to my surprise the adult was accompanied by two fluffy, black chicks. Over the next few minutes I was privileged to watch the adult cutting up reed stalks with its powerful beak and feeding them to the young. Later, another swamp hen appeared and took the chicks further into the reeds indicating that both parents were involved in rearing their brood.

IMG_2791

Purple swamp hen cutting up reed stalk near chicks

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Purple swamp hen feeding a chick with cut up reed morsel

 

My next encounter was a tad closer. A variety of large dragonflies and their more delicate cousins the damselflies had been continuously flitting across the water just a few metres away. They appeared to be in a mating phase with an occasional pair joined head to tail, which is part of the reproductive process. Others were obviously hunting smaller insects while a few seemed to be establishing some kind of territory by chasing off rivals of the same species.

wandering percher

Wandering percher dragonflies mating in flight

Emperor dragonflies mating

 

Between the dragonflies and purple swamp hens feeding their family my patience seemed to have paid off and re-confirmed an old but well tried approach to wildlife photography. Better to let the target come to you than chase it.

 

Until next time

Baz

 

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Photo Reflections 1

21 Jul

Dear Reader;

As you may have gathered from my previous posts, South Australia has a diverse selection of landscapes and wildlife. When you add our temperate climate and clear skies to the mix, it becomes abundantly obvious that this is a place well suited to wildlife photography. In this post, and a few more in the future, I will share some of my favourite wildlife encounters and the images they produced. They will not always be my most technically correct pictures but they will be the ones that invoke my fondest memories.

Telowie Gorge 2_09-10-07_0008_1

Telowie Gorge; a classic dry creek habitat

 

Echidnas are the hedgehogs of Australia. They trundle along like little battle tanks searching for termite mounds which they rip apart with their powerful front claws. They are in fact monotremes, a peculiar group of mammals that lay eggs; their closest relative is the platypus one of the world’s most bizarre creatures. This particular echidna was wandering across a dirt track on Kangaroo Island and paid little attention to me as I followed it for several hundred metres into the thick bush.

A Echidna trundling across dirt track

Echidna trundling across dirt track

 

Zebra finches are found throughout South Australia. They tend to frequent dense bushland where there is a lot of cover. The males are more distinctly marked and brightly coloured than the females. I lay cramped in a thicket of acacia bushes for over an hour watching a group of these colourful birds waiting for the opportunity to capture an image that demonstrated the difference between the sexes. As you can see I was eventually rewarded for my efforts when a pair landed on a nearby branch.

B Male and female zebra finches

Male and female zebra finches

 

As a wildlife photographer I spend a considerable amount of time flat on the ground, half covered in dust and leaf litter. It is therefore inevitable that sometimes I will share these times and spaces with the critters that call them home. However, I was not quite so philosophical when a sizeable forest scorpion decided to co-habit the log I was balancing my camera lens on. We spent an awkward few minutes together before the little arachnid decided that it was more comfortable under the log where it had been peacefully residing before a large hominid disturbed its rest.

C Scorpion

An inquisitive scorpion

 

One of the most difficult tasks I face as a wildlife writer is to adequately describe with words and pictures the environments that I explore. The edge of the Aldinga reef is one of my favourite haunts. The shallow limestone reef breaks the surface at low tide and falls away sharply several hundred meters offshore to sandy bottom dominated by algae and seagrasses. The actual edge is well defined with a series of crevices and caves that provide a wonderful habitat for a variety of fish including drummer, leatherjackets and magpie perch. On my last dive I took a dozen pictures trying to describe this characteristic environment eventually capturing the one you see here which included all the essential elements; algal growth, three species of fish and the rocky edge of the reef.  

D The edge of the reef

The edge of the reef

 

I hope that you enjoyed these images and the little stories that accompanied them.

 

Cheers

Baz 

My South Aussie Garden

15 Jun

Dear Reader

The people of Adelaide have the luxury of a glorious Mediterranean climate; cool and wet in the winter, mild to warm during autumn and spring and hot and dry in the summer. Such benign weather combined with the city’s ideal location between hills and coast provide excellent conditions for gardening throughout the year. Viewed from the hills, the city looks like a green patchwork of tiny gardens, expansive parks and tree lined boulevards. In general, South Australians take great pride in their gardens creating personal spaces that provide a sanctuary in a modern urban setting as well attracting local wildlife into the city.

AE Clssic home and garden in North Adelaide

Classic home and garden in North Adelaide

My own garden, like that of many Adelaideans, is a combination of native shrubs, trees, lawn and exotic flowering plants, all carefully chosen to give colour throughout the year and attract both birds, insects and the occasional reptile. Small areas of lawn and strategically placed rocks provide variations in terrain while outdoor seating and water features add aesthetics plus an all important source of moisture in the summer months.

AB New holland honeyeater feeding in bottlebrush

New holland honeyeater feeding in bottlebrush

A couple of sizeable eucalypts dominate the back of the garden. The smaller of the two has large yellow flowers that blossom in the spring and tends to attract a wide variety of parrots, especially rainbow lorikeets. The larger tree has smaller, white flowers that seem to be at their best around Christmas. The  snowy blossoms are a favourite food for several different  species of honeyeaters including the largest of all; the wattle bird whose raucous cry sound remarkably like wakeup…wakeup.

AF Rainbow lorikeet feeding on red flowering gum blossoms

Rainbow lorikeet feeding on red flowering gum blossoms

AC Young wattle bird feeding in eucalyptus tree

Young wattle bird feeding in eucalyptus tree

Several different species of lizards are quite common around the garden. Marbled geckos live amongst the brickwork and a variety of slender skinks including sliders and cenotus scurry under the leaf litter and rocks. Occasionally a blue tongue or shingleback makes an appearance during the summer months.

AAgarden skink amongst bark and leaf itter

Garden skink amongst bark and leaf litter

 

Spiders and insects are found in a myriad of micro-niches throughout the garden. Flower spiders hunt amongst the blossoms, red backs live in the dark recesses of garden sheds while various beetles, wasps and mantids (to mention just few groups) forage amongst the diverse shrubs and grasses.

AD Leaf curling spider

Leaf curling spider using a gum leaf to construct its home

 

This is a merely a brief introduction to my garden. In some of my future posts I hope to share much more detailed stories and observations about the animals and plants that   I encounter each day in my own garden and others that I might visit around the state.

Cheers

Baz

Any feedback on this post is most welcome

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