Thought it was time to update my website and give it a new look for a new year. I hope you like it and find it easy to get around. On the right side of the screen you’ll see some new items, including my bird collection list – birds I have been able to see…
Category: Australian landscapes
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Happy New Year everyone – here’s to another year of birding, hopefully a successful one for all. I’ve already logged 20 species here at home in the Dandenong Ranges on the first day of this month, although I didn’t get photos of all of them. I use the eBird app which I now find very…
To Market, To Market
Well, you might not have been off to buy a fat pig, but I hope you like to attend our local markets here in the hills. There’s at least one on every weekend but often two or three. Not sure when or where? Then you really do need to buy my calendars as I have…
2023 Calendar now available
I’m delighted to let you know that the 2023 Dandenong Ranges Calendar is now available for ordering. Orders can be placed here. I will also have, for the first time, a Bird Calendar as well (limited edition). Orders for this one can be placed here. Note, only 5 left before sold out.
Learning from Nature
Amazing what you can learn from just observing nature. Early March I saw a lot of ants at the top of a young acacia tree and I thought the tree was in trouble, seeping sugary sap. This is at Birdsland Reserve by the big lake. A week later I discovered the ants were covering a…
A tale of 4 turtles
A tale of 4 turtles and two teenage larrikin birds. At Birdsland Reserve this week. There were once 4 turtles, two each on two logs, minding their own business, enjoying the morning sunshine. Along came two teenage water fowl, intent on some mischief. They spied the first two turtles and then the other two,…
Exploring Birdsland Reserve
Exploring Birdsland Reserve, Belgrave Heights, Vic. It’s my favourite walking spot. Flanked by a state park and farmland, it consists of two lakes, one with an island, and walking/cycling tracks and wildlife – lots of birds, kangaroos, the occasional echidna or wombat, some turtles and, hopefully, platypuses too – waiting to see those after considerable…
Beats having binoculars!
Walked around the corner of my house, to the front garden and saw, what I thought, was the usual wattle bird in the grevillea. Then I realised it was much smaller and different markings. Zoomed in (as I didn’t want to go closer and scare it away) only to find it was a Yellow-faced Honeyeater….
Foggy mornings
When visiting Healesville recently, I drove through Cockatoo. It was a very cold morning, 0-1C (it is almost mid winter here) and the car kept warning me of icy roads. I’d pull over to the side, when safe to do so, to let other traffic pass me by, that was intent on travelling much faster….
Hello Major Mitchell
I really should visit our zoos far more often. The Healesville Sanctuary is in my neck of the woods and it is entirely Australian animals and birds (I believe). I love going to the ‘Spirit in the Sky’ show to practice my BIF (bird in flight) shots. This time round I took the new Nikon…
Dandenong Ranges Icon
When you hear the words ‘Puffing Billy’ you are instantly transformed to visions of the Trestle Bridge, smoke and steam and people waving from the train. My favourite spot is at the top of the Trestle Bridge, to capture the train as it comes towards me. On this particular morning it was very still and…
Visiting Lysterfield Lake
I’d heard, recently, that there was a flock of Swift Parrots at Lysterfield Lake, just 10kms from where I live. Why was this so special? These birds are classed as an endangered species and they are endemic to Tasmania. I’d first heard about them when working with a Victorian arborist industry association that had sent…