Thoughts And Recollections Of A Tree Spirit

Project 365

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

On Tuesday, as I wasn’t working in the office, I went for a brisk early morning constitutional down to the beach. Of course I took my camera with me and after getting some interesting shots of an Ibis on the walking track to North Avalon I decided today would be a good day to start my Project 365.

What is Project 365? Well, if you are frequentor of Flickr.com you may be familiar with it as it is very popular among photographers. It’s basically a commitment that one makes to take a photograph for every day of the year (and then upload it to Flickr if that’s your choice of platform). I think if you are doing it seriously then there are other rules but I’m just going to do it for me so that’s as far as I’m going.

My main aim is to improve my composition and eye for an interesting photo by regular practice. As I only have a basic point and shoot I’m not expecting brilliant photography but I figure the science behind it is something I can learn at a later date when I get a manual SLR or the like. There is no point in being able to take a physically brilliant photo if my composition is shit. A good photo is a piece of art, in my opinion anyway.

So, you can find my photostream here for now and with any luck I will be able to add a Flickr feed to this blog later so that any new photos appear in the sidebar. Shown below are my photos for Tuesday, Wednesday and today:

Grafitti Ibis

The Ibis regards the somewhat jaded grafitti and is of the definite opinion that it is in need of an overhaul.

The first photo is already explained. Yesterday’s shows my brother’s amazing and wonderfully colourful piece of grafitti art that he did for Mat and I on his visit. I wasn’t sure whether to do a closeup or include all the surrounding rubbish. I opted for including some of the rubbish as I figured it depicted our “Life” which goes with the word “Life” on the art board.

This morning, as I was finishing tidying the kitchen I heard next door’s dog, Sparky, barking in the garden. I grabbed my camera and took the opportunity to snap some pics through the chain link fence and amazingly this one came out okay. He is the cutest little terrier (not sure what type) with the biggest sticky up ears I have ever seen :-)

Life grafitti

Our life surrounding Life

Sparky the terrier

Come and play with me, please please please...

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13.05.2010 Australian Flora & Fauna, Moggies & Doggies, Personal, Photography, Pictures 2 Comments

That’s Not A Cat

Friday, February 26th, 2010

After a slight hitch getting through customs my brother finally stepped through arrivals at Sydney Kingsford Smith airpport last night and began his adventure.

Hint to anyone travelling here to visit relatives from their home country: Don’t take them any credit cards in their name; post them instead. After waiting over an hour for my brother a customs guy finally came out asking me for ID before handing me my Lloyds credit card that my brother had brought out for me from the UK. He stated that if anyone brings cards into the country that aren’t in their own name it becomes a matter for the federal police. They had kept my brother aside for ages, interrogating him and only finally believed his story when I tried to ring his mobile to find out where the hell he was. Apparently they wouldn’t let him answer it but were persuaded that it was me and came out to find me so I could validate his story!

Finally we got back to Avalon and had a relax before Mat went to bed as he had to work today. I stayed up with my brother and we were chatting away at our table outside when Rich suddenly started making noises to something under the table and said that a cat had just appeared.

“A cat?” I said. “We don’t get cats round here.” I looked down to see a brush tailed possum boldly sniffing Richie’s hand. He pulled it away quickly and then we both went to grab our cameras.

We get possum visits regularly in our garden if we’re outside late at night but this one was extra inquisitive and bold as brass. It was as if she had decided to give my brother a proper Aussie welcome and he was chuffed to bits. His first encounter with Australian wildlife couldn’t have been better.

Brush Tail Possum has a sniff at Rich Closeup of Possum sniffing Rich's hand Rich tries to get a photo of the Possum sniffing his hand Brush Tail Possum investigating our table

26.02.2010 Aussie places/info of interest, Australian Flora & Fauna, Personal, Pictures 3 Comments

Beach Fishing at North Avalon

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

Last month we fancied doing something fun on our Friday night that also involved beer for the boys (obviously) and Kat suggested beach fishing.

Mat jumped at the chance as he has done limited fishing since we moved here and was keen for Nick to give him some tips so we gathered together the beer esky and other essentials and then all piled down to North Avalon to set up.

Fishing at North Avalon Me & Kat Fishing

Not a lot happened for the first half of the evening. Davo and Guinness joined us and it was a good excuse for the boys to do something practicle together and me and Kat to have a girly catch up.

I've found a sand fish, he's down there somewhere, I can smell 'im!

I've found a sand fish, he's down there somewhere, I can smell 'im!

A bit later on Nick finlly got a bite and spent the next half an hour to an hour battling with whatever was on the end trying to get it in. We were all a bit sceptical for ages as to whether it was just a large clump of seaweed getting sucked around by the waves but finally whatever it was got close enough that we could make out a shape and a lot of splashing. Apparently it was pretty big (I didn’t get close enough to see properly) as Mat was wading in and trying to bring it closer. However, we will never know as after all the hard work the line snapped and it escaped.

In an attempt to cheer Nick up and because we were all hungry we ordered pizza (explaining to the Pizza guy that we were the first group of fishermen down from North Av carpark). In betwen ordering and the pizza arriving Nick got another bite and this time managed to land the fish.

Nick's Fish Nick's Fish 2 Nick returning fish to sea

We weren’t exactly sure what it was but Nick suggested a gummy shark. As it was only small I took a few quick pictures before Nick was keen to throw it straight back. After googling various things if I have to hazard a guess I’d say Nick was right and it was a gummy, however this is by no means definitely correct and any comments from more knowledgable people are welcome!

At least we had some excitement, even if we didn’t end up with a nice fresh fish for supper. Our pizza finally arrived too, after having to chase them a few times; I suspect they were a bit dubious about the beach location for delivery, even though The Sheriff used to tell us he ordered pizzas at the beach all the time.

26.11.2009 Australian Flora & Fauna, Moggies & Doggies, Personal, Pictures 3 Comments

Photo Opportunities Abound At The Beach

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Mat was working all last weekend so on Saturday morning I decided I would go for a walk so that I didn’t end up getting cabin fever and feel like I had just sat in front of the computer all day, which was becoming increasingly likely.

I wanted to go into the village and thought I start by walking in the opposite direction, head towards the north of Avalon Beach, then walk down the beach, cross the road and end up in the village that way.

On my way to North Av I found a wicked little footpath following a creek and all along the side was colourful graffiti. I assume it was legal as a lot of it seemed to be divided into sections so different artists could have their own canvas, so to speak.

North Av Graf 1 North Av Graf 2

It’s not the best graffiti in the world but I like it. I have developed a strong appreciation for the sometimes controversial art medium since my brother started to nurture his artistic flare in this field a year or so ago.

So much for a bracing walk. When I reached the beach my camera came straight out again and I spent a good half hour sitting on the rocks clicking away, trying to improve my eye for a good composition.

North Avalon Beach North Avalon Beach & Rocks

Once I’d finished with photographing the seascape I retrieved my bag from a nearby rock and proceeded along the beach only to get stopped by another photo opportunity. There were lots of Bluebottles washed up on the beach – a common type of jellyfish that has an inflatable balloon thing that it uses to catch the wind and drift along the sea along with long stinging tentacles. I’ve never been stung by them but it’s very common and it doesn’t hurt too much by all accounts, just itches a bit and leaves you with (more…)

10.11.2009 Australian Flora & Fauna, Personal, Photography No Comments

Paper Round for a Week

Friday, October 16th, 2009

This morning was the last day of my holiday relief paper round. I started it last Saturday and then did Tuesday to Friday, delivering the Manly Daily on a run that started on the corner of where our new house is going to be.

I had been musing on the idea of a paper round for a while as I thought it would be a good way to get fit and earn a little money as a bonus (all be it not much). The Manly Daily is always advertising holiday relief runs for a week here and a week there and with the two week school break just ended there were a lot of runs in Avalon (they call them runs here, not rounds). I decided to give it a go so rang up and got one for a week. The papers are free and get delivered to everyone unless they request not to receive it and they have to be delivered by 8.30 in teh morning.

I must say, I very nearly gave up after Saturday morning. The pile of papers I had to pick up was humungous, I could barely carry one batch at a time and there were about ten batches. I ended up doing a small section at a time and driving in between. Not only that but I was about fifteen papers short and it started pissing down with rain about half an hour before I finished. The whole thing took me just over two hours for a poxy $12, not that the money was ever really the point of the exercise.

Anyway, after much deliberation I decided to stick it out and come Tuesday morning, after carefully plotting my route from Google Maps the night before and getting up nice and early at 5.15am I was ready to go. On arriving at my collection point I was delighted to find less than a fifth of the pile I encountered on Saturday and managed to carry the whole lot all at once, just. Tuesday’s paper was half the size and had no thick property insert so needless to say it was much more manageable and enjoyable. I actually got to relax and take interest in my surroundings.

Being out during the dawn chorus is fabulous. Everything is amplified: the jubilant laughing of the Kookaburras, the rawcous cacophony of squabbling Cockatoos, the shrill whistle of the Butcher Birds, the fluting yodel of the Magpies, the liquid voice of the Currawongs and of course the high pitched tweets and twitters of the Lorrikeets. In fact, there were a couple of times I’m sure I found myself listening to a baby Currawong but try as I might I couldn’t see the owner of the raspy little croaks. I only recognised the sound because we had a pair of Currawongs nesting in a nearby palm tree when we used to live in Collaroy and the baby used to make exactly the same noise – very loudly – and very early in the morning :-)

Anyway, today was slightly different as I had booked a phone call to the UK before work. So as not to miss it I got up extra early, 4.15am, to get back in time for 6ish. I took my head torch, for which I was very glad of as without it I would certainly have missed some of the letter boxes. This extra early hour gave the run a different slant. There were no birds to start off with but instead many rustlings and scuttlings in the bushes. I had a shock when I passed under one tree; extra noisy rustlings preceeded the sudden launch of a big black shape into the sky with the beats of giant leathery wings. I had disturbed a fruit bat from his up-side down slumber. This happened a few more times before dawn and I delighted in the spectacle.

In summary of my week as a paper girl: The hardest part was leaving the house immediately after waking up (I normally get up around the same time but have a leisurely cup of tea, breakfast and alone time with the computer before work). However, once I had started the run I loved being out with urban nature on my own. Dawn is like a different world and it filled me with energy and a zest for life, not to mention the aching in my muscles afterwards which means I was getting valuable exercise! On the down side it’s very tying. The early hours before I go to work is the time I spend writing this blog, facebooking and calling friends in the UK etc. Also, I don’t know that I would like to get up so early every Saturday. Ideally if I was to do it on a more regular basis it would be good to share with another person and either take it in turns on a daily or a weekly basis.

16.10.2009 Australian Flora & Fauna, Personal 1 Comment

And They Say Everything’s Big in America

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

When it comes to a lot of trees and plants, compared to the UK, some species are a lot bigger in Australia. It was my intention when I first came here to write many posts on examples of this but as usual there is that little issue of time!

My next intention is to do some posts on the local flora as and when it comes into season, and with Spring in the air, now seems a good time to start. I’m going to back date a little though and go back to June this year, the equivalent of northern hemisphere Yuletide, when I took the following photos.

You people in the UK will all have had experience of the good old christmas plant, the Poinsettia; sold in supermarkets all over the holiday period, bought en masse to add to the festive decor and then sadly dying along with the christmas tree (with the exception of some committed green fingered people who manage to nurture them into the new year – I think my mum managed this).

Well here in Australia meet the Poinsettia Tree:

Red & white Poinsettia Red Poinsettia tree Closeup of Poinsettia flower

They seem to come in the traditional red and also all white or a mix of both. I took these photos one Saturday morning in Avalon when Mat and I were going for an early morning jolly in the Sierra. There seemed to be lots of them in this area, near Clareville, and I think they have only recently gone over as I’m sure I saw some just about still in flower a month ago.

17.09.2009 Australian Flora & Fauna, Personal, Pictures No Comments

Crimson Rosellas at Sunnyfield

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Yesterday I had to park up in the back carpark at work again, and again I was rewarded.

As I was walking back to my car past one of the residential gardens I spotted the unmistakeable red gleam of a crimson rosella in one of the trees. These are by no means a rare member of the parrot family but I have had less than five snatched glimpses of them in my time spent here in the Sydney area so far. This said, I immediately got out my camera as he/she seemed in no hurry to fly off.

As usual the rosella did not want to play ball and kept turning its head as I took the shot but I thought I would post the photos anyway as it was a highlight of my day. As I got closer I noticed there was actually two of them in the tree and by the look of it one of them must have been a younger one. The second snap shows the first one feeding the other. As I said, not great pictures, but it gives you an idea of how startlingly bright and colourful they are :-)

Crimson Rosella Mummy Crimson Rosella feeding baby Two Crimson Rosellas

02.09.2009 Australian Flora & Fauna, Personal, Pictures 4 Comments

Sunnyfield Rabbits

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

I have seen my Sunnyfield rabbits around work quite a few times since my ‘Why did the rabbit cross the road?’ post and last Friday presented a better than average photo opportunity.

I was somewhat late in arriving at work (due to getting a little distracted in the morning, talking to my friends on Facebook) and as a result had to park up in the back car park. There is a largish patch of grass which is railed off to the back of the car park and as I was going to my car ready to leave for the day I spotted two rabbits, one brown, one white and brown. As I passed them they seemed not to bothered about my presence so I got out my camera and took some shots:

Rabbit - Brown Rabbit - Brown & White Rabbits x2

You can see the difference in camouflage ability in the third picture; the brown and white rabbit stands out whereas the plain brown blends well in comparison. I’m guessing there can’t be any foxes in this area or the mixed colour rabbit wouldn’t last very long. I’m not sure if he is the only one with white in his coat on this site and now I have a closeup picture of him (her?) I will pay more attention to the markings next time I spot them. I may even start to name the rabbits I can recognise like I have done with Limpit, one of the many Masked Lapwings that inhabit Sunnyfield who stands out due to a wonky leg… but that’s another story :-)

03.08.2009 Australian Flora & Fauna, Personal, Pictures 3 Comments

Cockatoo Invasion

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

Monday morning saw Mat and I getting up early to make our first trip to work from the new house. I had not had the best night’s sleep and had been woken before the alarm again, first to the sound of maniacal laughs of the resident kookaburras and then to the screeching of cockatoos.

After Mat had left and I was just about to go into the kitchen to have some breakfast I realised I could hear a strange pattering of small feet on our balcony. It sounded like a small band of gnomes having a party out by the barbequeue so naturally I went to investigate. This is what met my eyes:


[click on the thumbnails to enlarge each image]

Of course I ran to get my camera and took as many pictures as I could before the battery went dead. At first I was worried they would all fly off on sight of me but unlike the other birds I try and photograph these cockatoos were true to their nickname – cocky! I was able to get up very close, within a foot from their faces, though I was not willing to try any closer due to (more…)

24.12.2008 Australian Flora & Fauna, Personal, Photography, Pictures, Videos No Comments

Baby Currawong Not So Baby Anymore

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

Some of the things I will miss most when we move is our resident Lorikeet and Currawong families.

I mentioned back in October that we had a pair of Currawongs nesting in a neighbouring palm tree and they kept visiting our balcony for extra food.

Well, not long after that, Baby left the nest. Mat noticed that the incessant cawing was no long coming from the top of the palm tree but from the bottom and when we looked we could no longer see the big black blob amongst the fronds. Mat was a bit worried that Baby had fallen out of the nest and was unable to fly but I assured him it would be ok; I had just recently read an article in the local paper about WIRES (The NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue & Education Service) being inundated with baby currawongs and magpies where poeple had thought they’d fallen out of the nest by accident and needed “rescuing”. Wires sent out a plea to leave them where they fell as it was completely normal and all part of their flying lessons.

By the evening we were relieved to hear Baby cawing from the safety of our Umbrella tree at the bottom of the garden and from there, there was no stopping him. He is a very noisy baby and even now, two months later there is no sign of the distinctive “currawock, currawong” adult call that presumably gives them their name. He just continues cawing repeatedly for food and can be heard from various surrounding trees regularly throughout the day. Saying that, I think this last week must have been a turning point as I haven’t heard him for a while now. Maybe he has finally taken off to find himself his own terriory away from mum and dad.

Anyway, for the first time last week, Mum (or maybe it was Dad) brought Baby with them to visit our balcony. He started screeching at the top of his voice for food and (more…)

18.12.2008 Australian Flora & Fauna, Personal, Videos No Comments

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