Happy birthday to me
2 Comments »16th November, 2011; Category: Adelaide, Adelaide Hills, Animals, Birds, Himalayas, Photos
Yes indeed – it is my birthday today.
As a treat for my many readers, today we will have something a little different. Instead of an article about somewhere I’ve travelled to, I want to share some photos of my favourite places.
Enjoy.
If you’d like to leave a birthday message in the comments section, that would also be great.
Australian Pelican, Mallacoota, Victoria
Ama Dablam, Nepal
Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour
Giant Panda, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens
A visit to a native garden part 3
Australian native plants in an Adelaide Hills garden (Hardenbergia)
Over the last few days I have been sharing photos of flowers and plants in the garden of a friend. Today I feature the last of these photos, plus a bonus.
Our friends told us that a pair of Tawny Frogmouths had been resident in a tree just over the fence for some years. These birds had even raised several broods of young in recent times. It just happens to be one of my favourite birds too – and so easy to photograph!
Tawny Frogmouth
Australian native plants in an Adelaide Hills garden (Grevillea)
Murrumbidgee River, Balranald
Murrumbidgee River, Balranald
Sydney Trip June 2011
On the second day of our return visit we stopped briefly at Balranald for lunch. We visited the tourist information centre, then drove down to the picnic area on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. During and after lunch I did a little birding and captured a nice shot of the White-faced Heron shown below.
White-faced Heron, Balranald
Lameroo, South Australia
Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia
Earlier this year my wife and I drove from our home in Murray Bridge in South Australia to Sydney in New South Wales. We were going there to play with our precious grandson – oh, and see our son and daughter in law. On our first day of travelling we left early and reached Lameroo in the Murray Mallee region of eastern South Australia.
We stopped at our favourite place on the edge of town at Lake Roberts. Here we had morning tea and a cuppa. The sunshine was lovely but the breeze was bitterly cold. I managed a few photos of the local birds before we headed east again. We had a great distance to cover before bed time.
Grain silos, Lameroo, South Australia
Lameroo is a small town in a prominent farming region. The main agricultural pursuits are wheat and barley crops with potatoes grown at nearby Parilla. Many farmers also run sheep and cattle on their farms.
After leaving Lameroo we continued driving for about an hour and half before finding a convenient roadside parking area where we stopped to have a picnic lunch. There was a interesting patch of scrub next to the car park, complete with a short walking trail featuring a good range of local native flora (see photo below). This was of particular interest to my wife but the bird life was keeping a low profile and rather quiet so I didn’t get a long list species seen in this location.
Roadside walking trail between Lameroo and Ouyen
Edithburgh Nature Reserve
No Comments »27th June, 2011; Category: Birds, Botanic Gardens, Holidays, Parks and Gardens, Photos, Plants, Yorke Peninsula
Eucalyptus erythrocorys (red-capped gum), Edithburgh Nature Reserve
On the last morning of our recent holiday on the Yorke Peninsula we stopped for about an hour to wander through the Edithburgh Nature Reserve. This reserve, set up and maintained by a local community group, has been a focus of ours every time we visit the small coastal town. The reserve is at the western end of the main street and is open at all times to the public. Several excellent gravel paths suitable for wheelchairs meander through the reserve.
The reserve is not great for checking out a wide range of Australian Native Plants which interest my wife, it is also a good place within the town to see many of the local bush birds. Being only about 500 metres from the coast it is also possible to record a few sea birds flying overhead. My brother in law used to live opposite this park so we know it and its inhabitants quite well.
Apart from the birds I also enjoy the challenge of taking photos of wildflowers. I’ve dedicated this post to the plants in flower that we saw.
Calothamnus quadrifidus (one-sided bottlebrush), Edithburgh Reserve
Grevillea flower, Edithburgh Nature Reserve
Hakea laurina, Edithburgh Nature Reserve, Yorke Peninsula
Edithburgh Nature Reserve, Yorke Peninsula