Kookaburra and the worm

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roos on the golf course

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

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

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

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

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

Snatch and Grab

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

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

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

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

Sea Eagle

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

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

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.