Category Archives: Flora/Fauna

Feb 16 2013
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Heron, in Geelong

Friday 15th February 2013, 4.05pm (day 540)

Geelong heron, 15/2/13

Although I flew into Melbourne yesterday I’m not actually staying there this weekend, instead, I’m hanging out in Geelong which is a smaller city a bit further round the bay. I’m staying with an old university friend I haven’t seen in about ten years since she emigrated out here for work. There’s not an awful lot to Geelong but, like the rest of this country, it does have some cool wildlife. I was stalking this heron for a good 20 minutes from along the path by the bay near the marina, and got a few good shots, but this one I chose because the reeds just beneath the water give it a sort of texture, and the S-shape of its neck is just beautiful. It’s the second heron to appear on the blog and the first one was beautiful too.

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Feb 07 2013
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Eucalyptus

Thursday 7th February 2013, 11.30am (day 532)

Eucalyptus, 7/2/13

 

Every place has sea, and rocks, and sky, and even if these may be more of themselves in Australia, they are still basically familiar. What I like is the unfamiliarity of the flora and fauna, its basic difference – like the ubiquity of these eucalyptus trees, and their amazing skeins of bark and the leaves that when you rub them between your fingers smell like Vicks’ Vapo-Rub. This tree grows in the garden of the Penneshaw YHA, where I spent all the day working, and all I had to do to get this shot was just point the camera upwards.

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Feb 06 2013
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Emu, at the Emu Ridge distillery

Wednesday 6th February 2013, 9.20am (day 531)

 

Emu, 6/2/13

Toured Kangaroo Island today and saw plenty of interesting creatures both in the wild and in sanctuaries of one kind or another, including kangaroos, koalas, goannas, seals, wombats and more. Good landscapes too, but as I did a landscape yesterday, the wildlife theme is more appealing – and this emu wins because I love its deep red eye sitting in its otherwise bland plumage like a jewel. Vicious-looking thing however – was glad it was behind a fence.

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Feb 02 2013
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Pigeons at the South Australia Museum, Adelaide

Saturday 2nd February 2013, 3.45pm (day 527)

Pigeons, SA museum, 2/2/13

 

Translocated myself (via Qantas) to Adelaide this morning. My original plans were to spend this week checking out the Queensland coast but Cyclone Oswald put paid to that, so here I am in South Australia instead. It feels very different – not sub-tropical like Brisbane is, but more Mediterranean, much less humid, and with these big wide boulevards and low-key, but attractive, architecture. But then again it was a 3-hour flight, and a 3-hour flight from Manchester gets me to (say) Corfu, so I suppose it’s no surprise that the environment has altered somewhat.

More evidence of this – we are back with pigeons (as opposed to ibises) as the bird-pest of choice. This huge flock of them were wheeling on and off the cornices of the South Australia Museum this afternoon, as I came out, having done the tourist bit.

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Jan 30 2013
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Ibis drinking in the Botanical Gardens

Thursday 30th January 2013, 10.05am (day 524)

Ibis, Botanical Gardens, 30/1/13

 

When I first came to Brisbane in 2011 I remember seeing an ibis wander down the main shopping street and thought, cool, how exotic. Very shortly I realised that they occupy the same ecological niche as pigeons in other cities, and are basically a pest. But they look quite good, with that curved beak and white plumage.

I do like the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane, a beautiful park nestled in the curve of a river, but I couldn’t wander through it today and enjoy the sun, because it’s closed because of storm damage. You get a small sense of the amount of debris that is around by looking behind the bird. This shot is taken through the perimeter fence, with a big zoom (x50 at least), hence the slightly strange depth of field: but I like the effect.

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Jan 12 2013
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Monkey family, City Park, Nairobi

Saturday 12th January 2012, 4.30pm (day 506)

Monkey family, 12/1/13

First day in Nairobi. It’s only 5.30 as I post this but there’ll be no more photography today – flashing a digital camera around on a Saturday night in downtown Nairobi probably isn’t an advisable tactic. Anyway, the photo of the day has clearly already been won. Note the babies clutching to the chests of two of them (centre and right). The City Park in Nairobi was actually full of these critters, and probably the locals treat them as pests, but like the squirrels in public parks in the UK, they know when they’re on to a good thing with the tourists.

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Dec 24 2012
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

She’ll be back soon

Monday 24th December 2012, 11.55am (day 487)

Upset dogs, 24/12/12

Last-day Christmas food shopping at the Co-op in Hebden Bridge today. These four dogs (the fourth one is a tiny shrivelled black curly thing, hiding in the background with its red-coated hindquarters just visible) were desperately awaiting the return of their mistress outside and yapping an endless yap that reverberated through the whole store. OK, I don’t know 100% that the owner was female, but I dunno, just a guess.

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Dec 12 2012
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Tree and steam

Wednesday 12th December 2012, 12.05pm (day 475)

Steam tree, 12/12/12

It was the MA: DTCE graduation today but although it was a nice event, this was the best photo of the day, the 12th hour of the 12th day of the 12th month of the 12th year, marked by this tree getting a steam bath from a nearby vent.

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Dec 02 2012
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Frosty morning

Sunday 2nd December 2012, 11.30am (day 465)

Frosty morning, 2/12/12

Stayed below freezing all day today, the coldest day since Moscow back in March. Beautiful weather however, a glorious winter’s day. These brambles have made a break for freedom above a stone wall up the road from our house.

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Nov 23 2012
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Seagulls, Hebden Bridge

Friday 23rd November 2012, 11.40am (day 456)

Seagulls HB, 23/11/12

In Northern England it’s never possible to be that far from the sea, but here in Hebden Bridge we are about as far as you can get. Nevertheless these seagulls seemed to wish to make the old bridge their home this morning. Of course, what they don’t know is that I’m the Hebden Bridge Seagull in these parts (see the Brighton & Hove Albion thing).

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