Fires in NSW

Did we miss winter this year?
Tomorrow is the first day of spring in the southern hemisphere and in Australia it has been heralded by gale force winds, lack of rain, and temps in the mid 20's.
Local farmers lament the lack of rain that promotes healthy pasture for the months ahead with the forests tinder dry.
These conditions were answered by a number of fires across the state last week.
Eurobodalla, our local shire, has three fires going at the moment with the blaze at Dromedary being the largest having burnt some 2874 Ha ( and still going).
This was the scene last Friday afternoon...


Saturday morning, after gale force winds, it looked a little more intense....


Dromedary is under the big pall of smoke.

There was even a small fire upriver of Bermagui.


It was listed on the NSW Rural Fire Service site, though was small by comparison and seems to have been put out.


On Saturday afternoon a change came through with some rain, giving some relief to tireless firefighters. We still need much more though.
My thoughts go out to those in the Tilba area who are on alert as high winds continue from the South West.
With continuing high winds and temps, NSW is a tinderbox.
Consideration of the conditions and the consequences of ignoring them at the forefront of many living in the country as we leave winter today.

Just a theory

With things being busy of late, I have not had the time to go out there and take shots, let alone post them to this site.
Sure, I have a couple of things that have been floating around for a while I could post, though I thought it was high time to post a theory I have been floating for longer.
It involves life, the universe and everything (we miss you Douglas Adams) and was prompted to the forefront by a program I saw the other day.
The program was on the possibilities of life having existed on Mars.
Seems that the planet had a large moon that orbited with the effect that the core was rotated creating a magnetic field.
This is a good thing, as magnetic fields protect the atmosphere of a planet from erosion caused by solar wind from the sun as illustrated below. ( courtesy of Wikipedia)

Perhaps we owe a little more to the moon than the tides then?
Perhaps we need to look for life on planets with big satellites that churn their cores producing magnetic fields?
Anyway, mars is thought to have had a run in with its satellite- the collision warping the planet's shape- and, once alone in its orbit with the core not rotating, solar winds stripped off the remaining atmosphere giving us the atmosphere thin desert planet we have today.
All good, but what happened to the satellite?
Was it vaporized by the impact?
To churn the core of Mars it must have been fairly large.
Where did it go?
If you know what the plane of the ecliptic is, you would know that we (the planets) sit in a nice flat orbit around the sun (mostly). There is an exception.
Pluto(see article) is not part of that plane, nor is its orbit all that even.
This little "planet" zips around sometimes very distant and, at other times, is well within the orbit of the more regular true planet Neptune.


(Image of Pluto courtesy Wikipedia)

Seems to me that this little object is a johnny come lately to our planetary system.
It also has a satellite(of sorts) to call its own.
Charon (see article)is its name and, strangely enough, it is thought to consist mainly of ice.
Do you know what happens to water in zero gravity? it floats in little balls.


(Image of Charon courtesy Wikipedia)

When that zero gravity is cold enough you get ice.
Am I constructing a picture here? sure.
I propose that the "planet" known as Pluto was the satellite of Mars in some distant time, flung off into the outer solar system by the collision that took place between them.
As it left, its gravitational pull appropriated the water vapour that was generated from the seas of Mars, which condensed and formed Charon, the two destined to orbit oneanother in the far reaches of our system.

"Simulation work published in 2005 by Robin Canup suggested that Charon could have been formed by a giant impact around 4.5 billion years ago, much like the Earth and Moon. In this model a large Kuiper belt object struck Pluto at high velocity, destroying itself and blasting off much of Pluto's outer mantle, and Charon coalesced from the debris. However, such an impact should result in an icier Charon and rockier Pluto than what scientists have found. It is now thought that Pluto and Charon may have been two bodies that collided before going into orbit about each other. The collision would have been violent enough to boil off volatile ices like methane but not violent enough to have destroyed either body." (Wikipedia)

One good thing about a theory is that it cannot be proven or rejected without research.
I shall leave that to another.
I look forward to the results should I be here to see them.

A coastal treck

It was good to have Denis come down for another visit last week.
It gave me an opportunity to share some of the wilder parts of the territory in which I live.


Hidden coves with mountainous surrounds, riddled with treacherous slippery rocks is where we went.
I'm sure the scenery was worth it :)

These rock pools, with vivid red anemone were a good find.
They show the way in which the creature retracts its tentacles when faced with violent seas and the waterless conditions that it endures.



This Striated ( or Mangrove) Heron was a little shy of the camera.
Possibly due to the fact that he usually seen this far down the NSW coast.


As was this White Faced Heron.


Though, with careful stalking, I was able to get close enough for this shot.



Yes, an eventful trip that saw two weary photographers glad to be home.



We have yet to track down the elusive Death Adders that live down here.
Perhaps that will have to wait for another visit :)

One small step

Well it has been 40 years since mankind, within the setting of a cold war , set off for the moon.
I remember being woken when the landing took place, being told that history was being made.
Sleepily I watched those first steps and went back to bed. It wasn't through lack of interest, though through lack of age.
It seems that I wasn't the only one( at the time) with a lack of interest in space travel.



"Everything we do ought to really be tied in to getting on to the moon ahead of the Russians [...] otherwise we shouldn't be spending that kind of money, because I'm not interested in space [...] The only justification for [the cost] is because we hope to beat [the USSR] to demonstrate that instead of being behind by a couple of years, by God, we passed them." said John F Kennedy to James E Webb ( head of NASA at the time). source

Many projects were proposed to prove American superiority over the Russians and going to the moon was chosen.
An alternative idea for the funds was to apply massive irrigation projects to the third world.

Dont get me wrong.
Many amazing discoveries and applications we use today have come from that program.
Those programs should be taken to the next step. It's just so expensive.
The costs should be shared, among all nations, along with the benefits.
I propose the time has come for a world space organization.
This, of course, requires a previously unknown degree of international cooperation which may spill over into the environmental field of play on good old mother earth as some big projects, with big scientific/material rewards, are completed.
Rewarded cooperation breeds a more stable future together.

The push into space is, I believe, an intergral piece of the puzzle we need to solve if we are to pull ourselves together as a species so as to maintain a healthy environment here at home.

Are we grown up enough to stop trying to beat each other to the toys in this little blue/green nursery of ours?



Or is this the case?

Birds of Prey

As winter deepens I have seen more birds of prey keeping an eye open for an easy meal.
While fishing the other day, I saw not less than six White Bellied Sea Eagles in a group (flock?) diving for Salmon off the beach.
Smaller birds, such as this Nankeen Kestrel have been keeping an eye in the surrounding fields for mice.



This Black Shouldered Kite was very tolerant of me, allowing a number of shots to be taken.




Eventually it took flight.
I was a little slower than it, unfortunately, though I have included this shot as I feel it conveys some of the power of these small hunters.


I look forward to further chances to improve this shot soon.
A good site to view details of Australian birds of prey is here

Black Headed Gull

Although its been a year since my return from Germany, I still have photos to process.
Its easy to push the button on a digital camera when you have over 10 Gigs of cards, though the work of processing still remains.
So, with a little time on my hands today I bit the bullet and sorted some more shots.
I found the following:


These are Black Headed Gulls that I snapped at the North Sea town of Harlesiel in Germany's north.
They are a little bigger than the Sea gulls that are common along the Eastern shores of Australia and also sport this black head.
I found the temperament the same though as I tried to eat some chips by the shore.
I doubtless will find other things to post as I wade through the Gigs of work still to do.

High charge Lows

Last night a low pressure system, accompanied by a trough, passed over NSW.

I observed what looked like summer lightning, an occurrence that sees the sky lit by sheets of lightning without clouds...discharges atmospheric as charges balance out.

Then the clouds rolled in.

They were slow moving and, initially, undetectable in a starry sky.

The following shot with stars visible...

Then the show got started.

The next shot of cloud that rolled in.

It was multi layered, with many cloud forms present at many levels.

The real dark ones on the RHS foreground were very low and very dense.

Quite ominous in their slow roll across the land.

The next day was sunny to start with, though a smaller second trough passed over around 8am giving some rain and this nice double rainbow.

Blue Ringed Octopus

Blue Ringed Octopus, I have read, can be found as far south as the Town of Bermagui on the NSW coast.....

Yesterday was family day down by the river.
Everyone was interested to see the soldier crabs marching in their thousands, so down we went.
Harry, a local lad and friend of my son Marvin, was along for the day.
As we were walking along harry said "There's a Blue Ringed Octopus!"


Please keep in mind that he had never seen one before...except in books.
A spectacular find indeed, especially considering we were nearly 1Km from the ocean on a river tidal flat in an area as far south as these creatures have been reported.

With tentacles folded underneath, it was looking like a brownish rock with a few little bright flecks...something, no doubt, that would impel small fish to have a closer look.

Once disturbed, carefully, it began to display its full " leave me alone or else" colouration.
Vivid neon blue rings embedded in a golden body.



It was not an aggressive creature and, once it had a good study of us, was happily on its way.
This last shot showing the shape of the creature under locomotion.



Blue ringed Octopus have a "Beak" under all those legs not unlike that of a parrot.
They can deliver a toxin that shuts down breathing for a time ( not a healthy thing to happen)
and so should be left alone.
Once an octopus has hold of you, even a small one such as this, you may find it hard to put down due to the suckers having such good grip over a wide variety of surface textures.
They are intelligent and inquisitive creatures who can change shape readily.
One that I heard of, on display to the public, was given "toys" to keep it amused and had the habit of pulling the plug on its aquarium.

Rip, Bust and Tear

The world is a sad place indeed when concession to green groups is feared and denied.
Especially when the content of the concession is not an issue.

I have borrowed this text and following photo from Denis's site to illustrate:

...........................................

"The farmers of NSW who were threatened by coal mining had little choice in going with the Greens - even though they might not be regarded as natural Greens constituents. Many would surely be more naturally regarded as either "old-money Liberals" or Nationals supporters (remember when they were the Country Party?). However, only Lee Rhiannon (the sponsor of this Bill) and the other Greens had shown much interest at all in opposing coal mining under prime agricultural land. When the Greens proposed this Bill, it seemed the farmers' only hope of gaining Legislative support. So, naturally they supported the Bill.

But the Bill was defeated precisely because it was sponsored by The Greens.

UPDATE: Hansard Extract - part of Speech by Rev'd the Hon Fred Nile, MLC:
"That is why I cannot support this bill. It is not because of the content; it is because the bill will give the Greens greater ability to blow their trumpets and claim a great victory in this State, and give them further political oxygen. During my time in this Parliament I have been working hard to deny political oxygen to the Greens." Fred Nile - 4 May 2009.
You may go to the Hansard link above to read the full debate."
(Extract and photo courtesy of Denis Wilson)

...................................................

Do greenies make a dollar from preserving wilderness or farmland from mining giants?
Who benefits from the food grown, or the clean air we breathe?
What is an economy when it ultimately leads, in its present state, to a wasteland of body, soul and mind?
These, and other, questions have been raised in Gaye's and Denis's sites this week.
Both make a thought provoking read.

Soldier Crabs revisited

The tides were low around lunch time again today, around the time I last saw the soldier crabs on the move, so I headed out to the tidal flats to take another look.
Sure enough they were marching across the sand in vast numbers.



The Ibis paid them no heed though, at my approach, they( the crabs) quickly started to dig themselves in again.
I was intent on observing behavior other than running like hell and digging a hole, so I skirted around them using some mangroves as a screen to get closer.

Dont let anyone tell you that taking nature shots is clean, dry, or in any way pleasant a majority of the time.
Sitting on the wet sand, keeping dead still, I was able to observe them at about 2 meters distance doing their regular thing...foraging, and fighting.


I found the postures they adopted rather comical, though wondered if this was a territory thing or if I was witnessing mating.
No crab came to harm during these encounters, claws held high with legs usually in matched positioning.


Considering the huge groups these strange creatures move around in, this behavior is rather sporadic and not an overly regular event.
I was not able to notice differences in the crabs performing these actions other than a slight variation of colouring on their sides (can be seen in the above shot).
All in all it was an interesting experience to be surrounded by so many of these crabs.
I made sure I didnt sit TOO still though.
They seem very efficient at cleaning up anything that does!
...and those Ibis?
Well, they could be found looking for worms brought to the surface by the recent rains.

Big Bird Dogfights

The intermittent rain took a break this afternoon and a walk along a local beach to look for sponges sounded like just the thing.
On the way our exploration party took a break for some light refreshments when two Sea Eagles were spotted some distance off.



A fight for prey was going on, the mid air acrobatics a sight to see.


The victor headed to the forest with its prize.



The battle left the partially devoured prey in a bit of a state, so much so that a portion fell to earth as the Eagle flew off.
I was interested to see what had been caught, so approached to where the portion was dropped and discovered this....




...remains of what seem to be a Fairy Penguin.
I was not aware that the Sea Eagle, although a big bird, would take on such large prey.
Perhaps it was scavenged, already dead.
Either way a good meal for a large an majestic hunter.

I was glad to see that the kids were not fazed by the grizzly find, rather accepting the roles played out by hunter and hunted, fascinated by the unusual sight they had witnessed.