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Wandering "the fringes" in the magic hour.
One of several projects, that explore photography as evidence amongst other ideas.
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Endless vistas to enjoy within the Blue Mountains National Park. From the wide, open panoramas to the smaller compositions like this. What a classic Australian scene of blue sky, sandstone and gum trees.
Hard to believe this was in June, mid-winter. But there was a strong breeze which played beautifully with the eucalypts.
The Blue Mountains Area is a UNESCO World Heritage site, consisting of 1 million hectares of national park and wilderness dominated by temperate eucalypt forest. The area supports an incredible range of biodiversity. Around 100 km west of Sydney.
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What a striking native moth this is. Monotypic, the only species within genus Melanodes, family Geometridae.
The binomial of Melanodes anthracitaria is perfectly descriptive.
This image taken with flash presents dark, but to the naked eye, almost fully black and so dynamic.
Also an interesting species because the caterpillars and the moths both have two forms. The caterpillars can be either green or brown and the adult moths either fully dark as here or the other having pale yellow banding on the wings.
Larvae have been observed feasting on Eucalyptus gum tree leaves, family Myrtaceae.
I believe this is a female going on the wingspan which was 55 mm.
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Lovely, gentle light and colours to the east one winter's dawn this past month.
The sky over the ocean was a delight at that time. It was a beautifully tranquil, peaceful, calm moment with just the rolling waves as an auditory accompaniment.
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This new arctic suit was bought second hand online and looks 'never worn'. It is labelled Canadian Arctic Program!
We don't have any use for it really, other than making silly photos when we think it is 'cold'. It is cozy warm inside this suit!
The suit is quite heavy and cumbersome. It doesn't need hanging; it is so thick that it stands on its own! :)
Sydney today, 23 June 2024
Min. 6°C, Max. 14°C
increasing over the following week to Min. 8°C to Max. 17°C.
Sydney today, 24 June 2024
Min. 6°C, Max. 16°C
Overall, for some Aussies, myself included, <20°C feels 'cold'.
Looking forward to longer days and warmer weather.
And, in summer, we'll all be complaining about the heat and wish for a cooler weather.
There's a great Aussie poem about changing weather.
Said Hanrahan by John O'Brien
“We’ll all be rooned, said Hanrahan,
In accents most forlorn,
Outside the church, ere Mass began,
One frosty Sunday morn.
The congregation stood about,
Coat-collars to the ears,
And talked of stock, and crops, and drought,
As it had done for years.
“It’s looking crook,” said Daniel Croke;
“Bedad, it’s cruke, me lad,
For never since the banks went broke
Has seasons been so bad.”
“It’s dry, all right,” said young O’Neil,
With which astute remark
He squatted down upon his heel
And chewed a piece of bark.
And so around the chorus ran
“It’s keepin’ dry, no doubt.”
“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
“Before the year is out.”
“The crops are done; ye’ll have your work
To save one bag of grain;
From here way out to Back-o’-Bourke
They’re singin’ out for rain.
“They’re singin’ out for rain,” he said,
“And all the tanks are dry.”
The congregation scratched its head,
And gazed around the sky.
“There won’t be grass, in any case,
Enough to feed an ass;
There’s not a blade on Casey’s place
As I came down to Mass.”
“If rain don’t come this month,” said Dan,
And cleared his throat to speak —
“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
“If rain don’t come this week.”
A heavy silence seemed to steal
On all at this remark;
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed a piece of bark.
“We want an inch of rain, we do,”
O’Neil observed at last;
But Croke “maintained” we wanted two
To put the danger past.
“If we don’t get three inches, man,
Or four to break this drought,
We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
“Before the year is out.”
In God’s good time down came the rain;
And all the afternoon
On iron roof and window-pane
It drummed a homely tune.
And through the night it pattered still,
And lightsome, gladsome elves
On dripping spout and window-sill
Kept talking to themselves.
It pelted, pelted all day long,
A-singing at its work,
Till every heart took up the song
Way out to Back-o’-Bourke.
And every creek a banker ran,
And dams filled overtop;
“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
“If this rain doesn’t stop.”
And stop it did, in God’s good time;
And spring came in to fold
A mantle o’er the hills sublime
Of green and pink and gold.
And days went by on dancing feet,
With harvest-hopes immense,
And laughing eyes beheld the wheat
Nid-nodding o’er the fence.
And, oh, the smiles on every face,
As happy lad and lass
Through grass knee-deep on Casey’s place
Went riding down to Mass.
While round the church in clothes genteel
Discoursed the men of mark,
And each man squatted on his heel,
And chewed his piece of bark.
“There’ll be bush-fires for sure, me man,
There will, without a doubt;
We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
“Before the year is out.”
Ahem >>> climate change ...
rooned = Irish, ruined
Bedad = Irish, expression of surprise
Back ‘o’ Bourke = Aussie slang/informal, remote, inaccessible and a bit backward, place.
(Bourke is a historic country town in New South Wales, population about 2,400. With much better infrastructure and transport it is not that remote anymore and certainly not ‘backward’. From Sydney about 760km, 8 – 9 hours by car).
A glorious burst of sunshine yellow in the bush during our cooler winter days, Acacia terminalis were flowering in profusion on the walks I took when in the Blue Mountains. It was magical to be surrounded by so many.
Aptly named sunshine wattle, the species is native to the eastern states of this country, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Growing to a large shrub or small tree with an open habit. Foliage is bipinnate.
I read that there are around 1350 Acacia species around the globe, and close to 1000 of these are found in Australia.
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A lovely vista looking out from King Edward Park to the great South Pacific ocean.
Staggering blues on this winter's day. Mornings and evenings are fresh at around 10C here, but the days are pleasant, sometimes reaching 21C, as on this day.
It is that time of year once again, when humpback and southern-right whales pass this part of the New South Wales coast heading to warmer waters in the north, to mate and give birth.
I was looking out for them on this day and saw quite a few, and caught a couple of breaches. This is a great place to stand and also watch pods of dolphins coming close to shore.
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I love living in a temperate part of Australia, but do miss the sharp seasonal contrasts that can be found elsewhere in the country - a nod to my northern hemisphere roots perhaps.
The Blue Mountains, 100km west of Sydney is one such place that offers those contrasts of temperature along with the beautiful changing autumnal foliage palette.
So come June/July, it is lovely to head there once again and enjoy the cooler temperatures - and of course those log fires and yummy hot chocolates!
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Gentle light and delicate clouds as the sun went down with a golden glow over the city and the harbour waters.
Looking out over Rushcutters Bay from Darling Point. The Harbour Bridge can be seen in the distance.
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A lovely sunset to end the day, captured form the breakwater here in Newcastle.
Pictured coming in to port is the David Allan, a Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger that was built in 1990 by Carrington Slipways.
Length 71.5 m and width is 14.32 m. Gross tonnage of 1594 tons.
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Mangroves are intertidal communities of plants that grow on the foreshores of coastal lakes, estuaries and creeks. Usually in the tropics or subtropics. These plants are adapted to salty conditions which most other vegetation could not tolerate.
The mangroves are incredibly important as part of the estuary ecosystem. Also providing defense against the rise of water levels and erosion.
This particular area of wonderful mangrove is here in Throsby Creek, Carrington on the east coast of Australia and is home to a wide variety of fauna such as bats, crabs, birds and fish.
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So very pretty, twilight during a recent wintertime walk on our harbour breakwall.
A magical moment, with a contrasting, dynamic sunset behind me.
The break wall is a great way to be right out ‘on the ocean’ without getting seasick, as I am prone to do.
Also a super place to watch the whales and dolphins at play, or even maybe a shark.
Just across the harbour is the Stockton Bight, where white sharks have a favoured nursery for their pups.
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Located at The Hill, here in Newcastle, dominating the skyline and visible from many locations in our city....Christ Church Cathedral is a Gothic Revival goliath.
I particularly enjoy attending organ recitals here.
Also known as The Cathedral Church of Christ the King, it is an Anglican place of holy worship and has been an important place for pilgrims and visitors for over 190 years.
I learned that it is 72.5m in length, 26.5m in width and 36.5m high. It contains 160 windows, 72 of which are filled with beautiful stained glass.
The grounds have been the site of at least one other church: Christ Church, built in 1817–18.
It was exactly 100 years from the beginning of construction to consecration and the principal architect was John Horbury Hunt. His plans were drawn up around 1868.
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Where does a rainbow end?
Realisation that the rainbow does not in fact touch the ground and there is no end to it...
So then I understand the saying about finding that pot of gold - something that is very attractive that will probably never be achieved or obtained.
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Autumn and winter-time pretty little bell flowers produced by plants within this Australian genus.
Often commonly called Australian native fuchsia.
Correa is a genus of eleven species, presenting as shrubs to small trees.
This is specifically cultivar 'Catie Bec' growing to 1m in height.
Each flower just 15 mm in length.
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As long as I've lived here in Australia, I've known that to 'have a bogey' means to have a swim. Despite it now being winter, many are still enjoying a dip in the clear ocean waters, under the beautiful blue sky and bright sunshine.
On this day, all was calm...but on some days this pool and the surrounding rocks are battered fiercely by the ocean and winds.
The Bogey Hole ocean pool was hand-hewn by convicts in 1819 out of a wave-cut rock platform for the personal use of one Major James Morisset.
Morisset was the longest-serving Commandant of Newcastle, and the pool was originally referred to as the 'Commandant's Baths'. The name 'Bogey Hole' came into regular use sometime after, and it may originate from the First Nation Dharawal word meaning 'to bathe'.
Geologically, the rock in the area is sandstone/conglomerate, typical of the coastal areas of the Hawkesbury Sandstone deposit on which our city of Newcastle is built.
The pool dimensions are roughly 10m by 6.5m.
It is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register in recognition of its importance in the course of NSW's European history.
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I believe this jumping spider with lovely markings is within genus Holoplatys, perhaps species semiplanata.
Holoplatys species have a long, flat, oval cephalothorax and a long, flat, oval abdomen. I have found them under tree bark and around the home, in external cracks and crevices
Female 10 mm body length.
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I loved seeing these powdery clouds recently, against the brilliant blue winter sky.
Possibly altocumulus, although I read that cirrocumulus (higher altitude, but rarer) comes usually in rows as seen here.
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Thanks to the long and slender neck, the Australasian darter is commonly called snakebird.
Often seen swimming with only the snake-like neck visible above the water, or, as seen here - drying its wings while perched on a tree, rocks or wooden stump.
Darters swim with their bodies submerged beneath the water’s surface, with only the sinuous neck protruding above. They forage by diving to depths of about 60 cm and impaling fish with the sharp, spear-like beak.
35 cm body length.
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Over the years, the more I learned, planted and tended, the more my intrigue and love for Banksia has grown. I am quite besotted.
All 173 species bar one, are uniquely Australian. The genus is a member of the Proteaceae family and was first collected at Sydney in 1770 by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. Fossils found have shown that these incredible plants have been on earth for around 59 million years.
I grow several species and this is Banksia ericifolia, the lantern-like flower heads of which can grow to 30cm in length. This species is endemic to this area here on the east coast and loved by our honeyeater birds.
Here we have a superior view/perspective, down on to the top of the inflorescence.
The flowers feel rather like touching a wire brush. These plants, (even their inflorescences), are like old dinosaurs.
Link to same perspective image, but with heavy depth of field:
www.flickr.com/photos/112623317@N03/52016957329/in/album-...
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