Echidna and Hitch-hiker

Things have warmed up enough for Echidna to begin getting about.
As this guy made a dash to ground I was able to snap a shot or two, be it with the wide angle lens I had attached at the time - not really up to the task for this sort of work, and noticed a couple of hitch-hikers.

Now you may ask what sort of  incredibly game critter would hitch on the back of an Echidna, well a rather small and potentially dangerous one - the Blue Paralysis Tick.

While probably not too much hassle to the Echidna, for humans its a whole different story.
These little-fingernail sized ticks have been known to kill many a domestic pet and cause illness in humans.
Im not sure if anyone has died from these ticks, though I wouldn't doubt it was possible.
Just another sign that Spring is just about here and that the critters are awakening.

White Sea Eagle chicks

A stand of dead trees with a view has been the hangout of a couple of White Sea Eagle chicks from last breeding season.

Still covered in their brown plumage, these adolescent birds have been combing the area for small rodents in the surrounding fields.

With nesting already begun this year for adult birds, the numbers of these great hunters have increased in this area due to a plentiful food supply ranging from small rodents to full grown Fairy Penguin.

My cheeky friend

It only takes a little kindness to make a friend.

Sometimes that friend can take things for granted.

Its always ok when your somewhat cheeky friend is a butcher Bird.

While I'm not into feeding masses of birds - its not good practice, for it provides an unstable food source that, if discontinued, can cause all sorts of problems - I make exception for this guy.

The Butcher Bird is a member of the Kingfisher family and will readily make itself part of your family, given enough encouragement which, by the way, is very little.

After returning from fishing with my hard earned catch, this guy promptly tried to snatch a fish more than twice his size as I was cleaning them.

The photo below shows him demonstrating that he can indeed catch his own meal. 

A point he made when I was a little slow in providing food for him.

You will notice the colouration of yellows and blues under his wings and on his body.

This is not readily evident, though can be seen with correct lighting (and luck).

Yes, a not exactly patient, though worthwhile, friend to make..

Are Koalas the issue?

South Eastern forests have been subject to logging and their fair share of protesters over the last few weeks.

This is nothing new, due to the nice stands of spotted gum located in state forest areas down this way.

The protesters main thrust against this logging is that habitat for koala is being lost.

Forestry workers I talked to today stated that they had done extensive surveying of the area and have found none, though protesters state that these areas are, in the least, safe areas for migration during times of drought, fire or other environmental factors that would drive them from established, and universally recognised, areas of habitation.

Now, here's the real spanner in the works..both groups are missing the big picture. yep.

At another time the logging was on, in a slightly different area,
I was able to observe what actually happens in there.

Yes, someone removed some signs on a track...you know, the ones that say things similar to :
" do not enter under pain of death".

I wish they hadn't. I don't like to be where I'm not supposed to be,
also I had real difficulty getting out in my 4X4.

So, what did I see that Im not supposed to?

Well, the track was churned up to over 300mm of fine dust, as was the surrounding "forest"
and, at points, was much worse than that.

No plant was to be seen at ground level and the few trees left were scarred by machinery,
weak and small and very well spaced apart.

Ok, so now we get to the main reason, in my mind, why this action should halt.

It has nothing to do with the senseless rape of the forest, or furry koalas going hungry...its about erosion.

Its about cubic tonnes of topsoil running into creeks that lead to lakes...many with protected areas of habitat.

Last time this logging went on we had large amounts of rain soon after,
and soon after that I went fishing in Wallaga Lake.

I didn't catch any fish...probably because of the extensive amount of fine particulate saturating the water that, strangely enough, was the same colour as the soil I'd seen on that unplanned drive through devastation some weeks earlier. I suppose the floating grass and plant debris was the clincher.

Here's the latest "Pain of death" sign.

Yep, When advised of course I'll stay out :)

And here is where its going on at the moment, upstream from Wallaga Lake.

This picture ,below, is a protected habitat and an upper arm of Wallaga Lake.

It is also downstream of current logging operations.

...and an ok place to be ( at the moment anyway).

Yes, since I have lived in this area Wallaga lake has silted up... quite a bit over the last 4 years .

Koalas or not, the big picture is much bigger than you knew.

The logging IS upstream of Wallaga Lake.

Much more is at risk.
If destruction of environment and protected habitats disturbs you, you can email the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Mr Tony Burke at:
tony.burke@environment.gov.au
If you live in another part of the world, I'm sure Mr Burke would still like to hear from you.
You never know, you might want to visit our still beautiful and diverse part of it one day.

A glimpse of a European summer

While in Germany this visit, I did not have much opportunity to get a lot of nature shots.

My lens was turned towards architecture and landscape this time.

You can see the results of that endeavour on my Facebook site.

(There is a link on the left hand side of this post)

I did glimpse a moment or two, such as these pictured below.

Firstly, a large land snail laying its eggs.

At just under 50mm across the shell, its eggs were just under pea sized objects.

 Then there was this strange critter.

I am yet to identify it, though I saw empty shells left behind once it had metamorphosed.

Into what, I'm yet to determine also.  

This was a little easier to ID.

It is, of course, a hedgehog.

Sadly I wasn't able to photograph a family, which makes a rather cute photo I'm told.

 I was able to capture this Hover Fly laying eggs though.

As well as these snails in the act of hermaphroditic reproduction

I was amazed at the number and range of small insects I had never encountered before.

So much so, I would like to thank Bridget and Ralph for he identification book they gave me.

Still looking for this one.

This is definitely an ant.

I was not aware that Hover Flies eat pollen, though they do.

Some things are constant though, such as the beetle attacks experienced over the summer months.

Just before dark, for about half an hour, masses of small beetles crowd the air.

They gather in ever growing clusters until the mass of the group is too much and they fall to the ground, only to resume this behaviour again.

Soon they are gone for the night, around the time bats come out and begin the hunt for them.

A most interesting spectacle indeed.

Luna Eclipse from Germany

Its been hard to keep posts going while away on holidays, with this being the only one for this month.

Through the clouds I was able to get a few shots of the recent luna eclipse as it was viewed  in Germany. 

Dubbed as the longest in quite a while (some 2 hours), I was able to get the moon's return as it rose above the horizon.

Within an hour, the moon was back to full

Although shots were hampered by the clouds, the event was spectacular to observe.

Sea Eagle

Although winter is fast approaching, the plovers are still enforcing air space rights around their designated areas.

This young Sea eagle strayed into one of these no go zones and was promptly buzzed.

Not unduly fussed by the attention, the Eagle still moved from the annoyance to quieter hunting areas.

The surrounding fields are still alive with small rodents giving an abundant food source before winter sets in. 

The seals of Narooma

The Montague Island Marine Reserve has been quite a success.

So much so that the Seal population, also protected, has boomed.

Seals that have been kicked from the Island have made their home in Narooma Harbour entrance and laze within metres of passers bye.

As the following video will show, they are relaxed around humans.

Especially those who fish.

Fisherman complain of whole catches of "heads", the seals extracting the rest of the fish before it can be landed.

It remains to be seen if the eco system is in balance with seal numbers increasing  and how much pressure this is placing on the marine reserve in general.

Time-lapse Stream

As a nature photographer its often difficult to capture a new perspective on something that has been shot a thousand times before.

It is that new perspective that allows new insights.

Such is the video I have posted below.

Although time lapse photography and extended exposures are nothing new, It is the melding of these techniques in new ways that allow the of viewing nature in a whole new way.

This, I believe, I have accomplished here for the first time for the classic waterfall shot.

I hope you enjoy this piece of footage and the new perspective it affords.

Colony

I was able to photograph an insect exodus, as a number of winged queen ants and their followers made for new territory the other day.

Sporting a new macro attachment, I took the following shots of these insanely small subjects.

Notice the winged worker, behind the queen, in the above shot.

Strangely enough there were very few, though I saw four winged queen ants.

The whole process of the departure was quite insistent, as the non winged ants coaxed those leaving with mandibles gently nipping . 

The whole nest seemed to be out for the occasion, the ground alive with these small black ants.

Trip to Mimosa Rocks

A quick trip to Mimosa Rocks today was very rewarding, with a couple of great shots and the meeting of some very interesting people - from archivists and German tourists to lighting specialists.

I have included the following shot for my Lighting specialist friend :)
Following our discussion on Germany it is, of course, Berlin Hauptbahnhof.
I've included a link here for those who would like to know a little more about this fascinating building.

It seems that there has been some strange raising of the stones at Mimosa.

This I was able to capture, as seen below.

Yes, a little arty and mystical in black and white.

There were rings of such standing stones and constructions reminiscent of Easter Island statues gazing out to sea..be it all miniature in comparison to the aforementioned.

With all the excitement, I was still able to get a nice little shot of some wildlife as well.

I believe them to be Scrub Wrens, the male in the foreground.

All in all a most interesting morning.