Sue C's Photos

Lakes Entrance October 2011

2011-12-01T22:15:00.001-08:00

This fishing village always gives me goosebumps, so many good memories of family holidays.
The boat we used wasn't a fancy blue, though. A sturdy brown inboard motor, and we never came home without fish!

Rotunda in Albert Park, Parramatta

2011-10-16T01:51:00.000-07:00

In ZineWest 2011, there was a beautiful poem by Anne Benjamin that made reference to this rotunda in Parramatta. Not the best day for a photo, and no matter what angle I took of this windy castle, the image did not work on the printed page! Sometimes a poem is best left alone, no illustration.

Heath Walk near Green Patch

2011-09-16T00:46:00.000-07:00

Lots of wild flowers plus a waratah, rarely seen at arm's length:)

Mr and Mrs Chestnut Teal Mangrove Boardwalk, Huskisson NSW

2011-09-16T00:37:00.001-07:00

Dunn's Swamp

2011-07-19T00:10:00.000-07:00

In the tree arching over the water an azure kingfisher was fishing... seemed untroubled by a couple of rambler/picnickers. We also saw a fantastic display by a musk duck, apparently rare in this region except for Dunn's Swamp. Has to be seen to be believed. Sadly didn't have a strong enough camera to capture the action..

Cruising from Moscow in the direction of St Petersburg

2011-06-26T00:19:00.000-07:00

Jetlag helped me get up earlier than usual. The river scenes first thing in the morning are very pretty. Not quite sure what I'm snapping here though!

Russia May 2011

2011-06-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

No idea what this building in the early mist was, but it bears the scaffolding of restoration.

After Fire

2011-03-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

This area was badly burned several years ago. This tree was very striking in its black and grey whorls dressed up in green by a young neighbour.

South Coast dreaming

2011-01-22T16:29:00.000-08:00

Heath stream near Jervis Bay

2010-08-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

This spot on the edge of forest and heath always has plenty of bird activity, especially late winter and spring. The honeyeaters were dashing about in courtship on a mild day. Plenty of plants flowering too.

Canada - Lake view July 2010

2010-07-21T00:21:00.000-07:00

Around the corner from here in the deeper water, we saw loons who are marvellous to behold. A few days earlier people saw a bear swim across the lake so I kept a watchful eye!

Parramatta Station

2010-07-10T21:50:00.001-07:00

On the way to the Sydney Writers Festival....

Lake Parramatta again - May 2010

2010-07-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

Lake Parramatta - Last day of July, 09

2009-08-02T00:40:00.000-07:00

It's winter, but tell that to the honeyeaters who think it's spring. I guess that's a very unscientific statement. Okay, they were feeding, chasing and telling everyone THIS IS OUR PATCH - piss off. At NWG Inc we are in Haiku producing mode - and so I decided to get busy with the images on the bush tracks but I failed to capture the honeyeaters' vim:

Walking around the lake/ hear the honeyeaters sing/ do not linger here...

so I wrote a sleepy one

Branch over water/ two little cormorants doze/ full of live breakfast...

Fairy Toadstools - April 09

2009-04-27T00:35:00.000-07:00

Bruce took this photo (at my insistence:) near the Cassins hangout up the Blue Mountains. I thought they were artistic flights of fancy - but no - they're real. Not trying to cook one though.

Home Beauty - South Coast

2009-03-02T22:45:00.000-08:00

The cattle are just beginning to notice us, but can't tell the difference between gawkers and farmers with hay. We were kind of glad there was a fence because within seconds of the first picture being taken the herd was trotting quite quickly in our direction...
Feeling guilty we drove off.

2008-12-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm no photographer! But this beautifully marked little beastie captivated me. At a Ballina roadstop on the way home from Brisbane - same one where Bruce took a picture of an ibis at take-off in 2005.

2008-08-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

My Mum (right) and my aunt Gwen on horseback up in the timber country Murrindindi, Victoria. They are both gone now, but soon many of us are visiting their remaining siblings (the youngest Jacksons born to Evelyn and Harry) James and Margaret, both living in Qld. Should be a merry old time. Thanks to Gwen's son, my cousin Peter for this photo.

Lake Parramatta on a grey day

2008-07-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

This place deserves a better photographer then me - Fida Haq for instance - but I'll return for another go.

Snowy Mountains

2008-03-25T22:27:00.001-07:00

No botanist, I can't identify anything in this intriguing tangle of low grasses on the site of an old gold-mining town (Kiandra) in the Snowy Mountains. Rolling, deserted, grassy hills, great places for skylarks and pipits. Deep set stream running nearby.

Jacaranda Carpet in Parramatta

2007-12-28T21:13:00.000-08:00

Every stage of these trees is beautiful. When they start to lose their purple crowns they decorate the street and lawns below.

Tide's out at Huskisson

2007-11-08T23:13:00.001-08:00

Pity you can't actually see the tiny crabs that race around the feet of the mangroves at low tide!

Shoalhaven River NSW

2007-10-02T01:08:00.001-07:00

Cliff on the Shoalhaven River upstream from the Nowra bridge. Very peaceful. Didn't bother to fish. Watched the fish jumping instead.

Sawn Rocks Mt Kaputar National Park June 07

2007-07-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

Sawn Rocks. These stone pipes look very like a towering pipe organ and the valley it's cathedral. Lots of angophoras posing as eucalypts along track from the car park - an easy walk. [3km North of Narribri, turn off North East towards Sawn Rocks in Mt Kaputar NP 34km out.]

Old Coolibah on Longreach Common

2007-06-29T20:37:00.001-07:00

An old Coolibah tree in the Iningai reserve, an area of Longreach's extensive town common fenced off with support from council, ag students and community members. This very old specimen was hard by a creek which was the dwelling place for aboriginal family groups in centuries past. Since European settlement, this area of common had been devastated by grazing goats and stock from the nearby stock route but due to the fencing is regenerating into woodland and grass meadows. Popular with the babblers and zebra finches, white-plumed honey-eaters, black-faced cuckoo shrikes, peaceful doves, jacky winters and weebills, we also heard brolgas and saw plenty of kangaroos. Bob and Scotty were our informative guides.

Darling River, Bourke

2007-06-22T01:26:00.001-07:00

Despite the muddiness from recent rain, and the long term effects of drought still visible in the trees' health, this river (above the weir) shaped up as beautiful and supporting a fine array of birds. Most evident were the whistling kites, corellas, egrets (great and intermediate), a white-necked heron, a white-faced heron, a lonely yellow-billed spoonbill who perched on a dead tree beside the river near the tourist boat for a good hour and a half. There was a thrush at every creek and waterhole, martins and swallows and the ubiquitous black kite who flashes his forked tail just often enough to identify him.

2007-03-14T00:19:00.000-07:00

Gathering from my grandfather's vegetable patch up in the Victorian tall timber. My grandma Evelyn Jackson and my mother, Phyllis.

2007-02-28T21:53:00.000-08:00

Guerilla Bay down the South Coast - taken by BJC Feb 2007. Peaceful.

Farewell Felicity

2007-02-25T01:02:00.000-08:00

Our cat Felicity (No. 2) died on the surgeon's table at age 19 - not bad for a cat who slept outside in all weathers. She went in for a bad tooth but cancer was the real curse. Her history was interesting. We bought her half grown from the RSPCA and many cat lovers will know that it is rare for kittens that age to be on sale. The cute little babies go first and the older strays and throwaways usually have to be put down. But Felicity was an exhibit in an animal cruelty case and when she was no longer needed for the case, the vets were not about to put her down. She had received two operations to mend a broken leg and was obviously fussed over at the RSPCA centre because she was an affectionate pet. One of the best kind of cats who retained her mighty independence yet related closely to family and selected friends (eg the neighbours who fed her when we were away!) She loved our company and we miss her.

Jervis Bay

2006-11-21T14:30:00.000-08:00

Bleached bloodwood at low tide, near Hole in the Wall.

Mike's last hurrah

2006-10-30T22:31:00.000-08:00

Mike has left Oz for America and is now working for Luis Von Ahn at CMU as a research programmer. This photo was taken on his last geo-caching trip (I think). Here is the youtube link for geocache enthusiasts....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyUm2xIquXE

Port Philip Bay 17th September 06

2006-09-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

Port Philip Bay, Melbourne. Vandals perhaps required the barricade to this scupture. Little girl unknown passerby. Barely visible to right of sculpture is a drunk face down on the sand. This is near the St. Kilda pier where Louise and Milan took us for early coffee at the rebuilt cafe at end (old one was burnt down). Golli and Gus showed up all the other dogs and behaved perfectly (unless you count Gus using the pier as a loo - but then he knows that Milan will sweep up after him....)

Gananoque likes Blue

2006-07-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Not the prettiest buildings perhaps but in the fading light I loved the blue tints which though seemingly pale were very intense. Liz C took these shots for me. The sheds were near the river on the quiet side of town.

A bad photo? Artistic impression of Newtown!

2006-04-12T00:37:00.000-07:00

Photo by Mike's phone while we waited for Short and Sweet at Newtown Theatre in March.

April surf at Governor's Head, Jervis Bay

2006-04-12T00:32:00.000-07:00

Never seen it this big before! Bowen Island is nearly hidden. Where seals often laze around, the surf boiled.

Pelicans on the Shoalhaven

2006-03-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

Just downstream from the bridge over the Shoalhaven River at Nowra there is a tiny outcrop which at high tide almost disappears. Every time we come into Nowra I look at this rocky stage in the river and judge from the number of birds how high is the tide. We took this shot from the boat on a morning when it might have been too windy in open water. But we ploughed through so many jellyfish we gave up and returned via the pelicans where we found another boat with engine failure. We towed them up the tiny Bomaderry Creek and went home feeling we'd done well.

Tawny Frogmouth - Parramatta

2006-01-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

Three open-eyed and open-mouthed tawny frogmouths were highly visible (for tawny frogmouths anyway) on this hot summer day in our neighbour's willow tree. Their plumage can resemble rough bark when they freeze into position in a eucalypt, but against the light green willow leaves they were soon picked out. We found two of these great birds dead in our back yards last year but a new nesting pair (with giant toddler in tow) have apparently moved in.

Eastern Water Dragon

2006-01-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

We spotted this water dragon at Audley on the Port Hacking river - or rather he spotted us.

Bread is ignored but orange poppy seed cake is pursued. A rival hangs back and gets a few crumbs. Our new friend poses to give us all the marking necessary for id.

Sorry mate - no more cake - besides it's probably illegal to share it with you. How about apple? That's his tongue in the middle there, not our finger.

Creek Colours

2006-01-12T04:45:00.000-08:00

Bushwalking with friends we were fascinated by the patterns of colour in this shallow creek a few metres from the beach. D. Meulman's was the best shot.

Fishing Cormorant

2006-01-12T04:39:00.000-08:00

This cormorant checked us out several times while we fished in Jervis Bay. When he gave up on our luck, he'd fly off to another boat. Not the best photo to capture the marvellous detail of his bronze-tipped feathers.

Jacaranda over Parramatta River

2005-11-20T23:16:00.000-08:00

Taken from the bridge near Riverside Theatres - I'm glad I took this photo when I did because a fortnight later it was forlorn again, most of the petals drifting downstream.

Lilly Pilly At Booderee Botanical Gardens

2005-11-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

I like the Spring pink and yellow tips on this lillypilly which is a particularly pretty specimen in the Botanical Gardens in Booderee National Park. There is always a Satin Bower Bird carrying on near this tree to add to the entertainment.

Sydney Blue Gum - Batemans's Bay Oct '05

2005-10-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

These are the leaves, nuts and buds of a Eucalyptus Salinga which is easily confused with a flooded gum (Eucalyptus Grandis). The best test is supposed to be that the slightly protuding valves curve outwards in the Blue Gum and inwards in the Flooded Gum which is a bit hard to see in this sized photo. Anyway the forest we saw on our way back from Eden was lovely, though a little worn by humans on the edges. It ran back from an overgrown picnic area between Bateman's Bay and Uladulla where we had lunch.

Newnes - Industrial ruins site - Sept 2005

2005-10-19T03:46:00.000-07:00

I love the carefully bricked archways which are prominent in these ruins - windows and doorways built to last. The site is well sign-posted and worth a visit even if you don't like ruins but love a stroll in the bush. Excellent for twitchers also. Lyrebirds in easy view for the quiet walker. Newnes near Lithgow, NSW.

Garden - Leigh and Denise Issell

2005-10-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

Early spring at the Issell's small farm near Shepparton, Victoria. Not content with a beatiful front and back garden, this garden greets you on the right hand side of the driveway. (Leigh is a horticulturist and his wife loves gardens.) This shot was taken in 2004

Kookaburra and the worm

2005-09-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

This kookaburra sat above our picnic table waiting for scraps when he spotted the real thing. He was the picture of concentration, bracing against his worm, his tail as support. He reeled in like a fisherman with a big game fish. He'd let the worm go back a bit then when the worm relaxed, he'd haul out the next few inches and snatch the worm closer to his middle. It took up to five minutes.Nearly there! All of a sudden his last haul brought the worm out of the hole. He was a quarter way through eating when his mate flew in front of the camera and took more than half!

Angophora Floribunda

2005-09-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that this twisted forest marvel (near Mudgee) is the same species of angophora that grows in our garden at Sanctuary Point. At SP the specimens are much smaller and scrappy although the youngest of them lives up to its name and produces many flowers.
Proof that I actually took this photo myself is that Bruce is in the picture.

Wattle spring 2005 near Newnes

2005-09-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

On the road out of Newnes, this is not the best shot of the mountains but I wanted one of the road and the wattle and Bruce pulled over to take the above. Australians love wattle but it has a mind of its own and doesn't always appear when/where you expect (especially after fire). However in this area near Lithgow, over the Blue Mountains, wattle was everywhere, paddocks of it, dressing up the soberer blues and greens of the eucalypts and sheoaks.

Eucalyptus Vinimalis

2005-09-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

A ribbon or manna gum - I think. But without a botanist around or a local species list, I'm always ready to be corrected. This was a common tree around Newnes and very splendid in some instances with dark trailing bark strips and white undercoat.

Female Satin Bower Bird

2005-09-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

The male Satin Bowerbird is shiny, irridescent black but the female as you can see is olive and brown with a sculptured pattern underneath. This was the last species to turn up to our barbecue in an otherwise deserted picnic spot at Newnes, the site of former industries - shale and coal mining and processing. The first to arrive was a magpie, followed by a currawong (both black and white birds) then a raven and a male bowerbird (both entirely black). So the female above added a little colour to the occasion. They were all hoping for sausage or bread at the least but we observed the rules and didn't feed them.

Congewai

2005-09-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

View across Gary Hughes' home paddock, Congewai July 2005, Broken Back Range in background.

Roos on the golf course

2005-09-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

If you look closely you can see the large white egret stalking in the background plus the magpie-lark amongst the kangaroos. They posed for Bruce over the back fence of our holiday house in Sanctuary Point. They love the golf course because it offers reasonable security from dogs and there's lots of well-watered grass. They've always liked this spot especially on windy days. I've seen one play giraffe across our neighbour's back fence and muzzle into the nearest bird feeder. July 2005

Grass Trees - August 2005

2005-09-02T03:26:00.000-07:00

This area in the Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay, has been devastated by recent fires but is now well on the mend. The tall flower spikes of the grass trees predominated.

Galahs - SW of Western Australia

2005-08-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

There were dozens of these galahs feeding just behind the beach (south-west coast of Western Australia) They were extremely pretty, though their usual garralous selves. Hard to take a photo that captured an impression of their numbers but did their personalities justice. May 05.

Typical pose in daggy clothes

2005-08-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Bi-Centennial Park at Homebush - always a good place to see birds including water-loving migrants.

Also a great place for bike riding and picnics.

Cliff south of Jervis Bay

2005-08-14T02:39:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth and Paul in a grove that was once impenetrable, now reduced to sticks from recent fire.

Snatch and Grab

2005-08-14T02:26:00.000-07:00

This kookaburra obligingly landed on the table (for a handout) when we were showing an English honeymoon pair (Paul and Elizabeth) the beauties of the South Coast. Recently Bruce and I returned to the same spot (Greenpatch) and a kookaburra dive-bombed Bruce and took half his lunch which he then proceeded to thrash to death on a nearby rail. It was winter and the advice DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE was reinforced. Used to easy pickings from overkind or careless humans in warm weather the birds breed successfully but then find the cold months very lean and the competition fierce.

Bloodwood near Summer Cloud Bay

2005-08-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

Small bloodwood in blossom just south of Jervis Bay, 2004. We have an older, less healthy one in our backyard at Sanctuary Point. It has survived surgery for white ants but drought has taken its toll. One particularly glorious year it drew every nectar-eating bird in the district, competing with swarms of bees. From the first hint of dawn flocks of musk lorikeets and rainbow lorrikeets arrived, later fighting with crimson rosellas and the local wattlebirds who tried to insist this was their tree. At night, the bats took over. It has not blossomed as strongly since. There are many bloodwoods in the Nowra area. That same week, violent storms took out a dozen gums in the park behind our place at Parramatta to the amazement of an English cousin who saw them fall.

Take-off

2005-08-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

This was taken by Bruce at a roadside picnic spot just North of Ballina, Pacific Highway, New South Wales, 2003. The site was being renovated and was a bit of a mess but this white ibis displayed the gorgeous pink under his wings that is usually only glimpsed by the observor.

Scribbly Gum

2005-08-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

New growth after bushfire in the Booderee National Park near the shores of Jervis Bay, South Coast, New South Wales, Australia.

Sea Eagle

2005-08-10T00:52:00.000-07:00

Sea Eagle up the Shoalhaven River near Nowra on the eastern coast of Australia, south of Sydney. Bruce took this shot from our small boat in summer of 2004

Phyl McKinley visiting Jackson timber mill site

2005-08-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

My mother (Phyllis) was the most recent of the surviving Jackson children to visit Murrindindi and died shortly after a memorable trip up the mountain in 2003. This shot was taken by my cousin Stewart Brown.

Mountain Ash - Murrindindi, Victoria, Australia

2005-08-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

These trees are mainly mountain ash - a beautiful eucalypt and excellent timber. My mother was raised on this forest site where the Jackson Brothers ran a timber mill. Her love for the tall trees was enduring. This shot was taken at a Jackson reunion in 2005.