Tawny Frogmouth - Parramatta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.