Winter is almost here

With winter fast approaching trees are losing their leaves and, with a move to a more highland environment, I am able to enjoy the seasons that such an inland elevation affords.

Below are a couple of pictures that illustrate the colour on display.

Insects are few, though this little Leaf Spider must have thought there were a few around and gave me a chance to test out my new macro lens a little early.

Im looking forward to some majestic landscapes as the snow season starts soon.

Autumn Field - feast

Although the rain has been ceaseless for the last heaven knows how long, the paddocks next to us got a cut last week and many creatures such as crickets, frogs and mice got a rude awakening.

This trimming of the verge did not go unnoticed, especially by one very canny Kookaburra

who sat up on the power lines above and kept a close eye on the action.

Kookaburra will eat a variety of prey, including mice, frogs, insects and a snake 

or two when they can get their beaks on them, so I thought it wise to grab the 

camera and hang around for a while myself and see what happened.

The Kookaburra buzzed the field a number of times, quite low, and

seemed to catch a number of things, though as to what was caught

I was not able to clearly ascertain. I believe insects of some sort were the 

victims of  a sharp eye and sharper beak.

The bird seemed to do quite well and eventually left, though not before I got the following shot.

Amongst the masses of grass picked up on the way, suggesting a small meal, were

what seemed to be long insect legs - Perhaps grasshoppers.

Although I was hoping to see a battle with a Red Bellied Black Snake,

a favourite food of theirs, it was an interesting afternoon nonetheless.

Electrical storms continue

With a wet and stormy Summer behind us, Violent electrical storms continue in our area.

Mostly isolated pockets of activity, this one passed by late last night.

It was interesting to observe, with such a small storm, what happened as it passed over a small group of islands just off the coast - the relative warmth differential of the island in relation to the sea caused the clouds to mushroom up causing further electrical discharge as it did so. 

Below is a shot of the "mushrooming", as well as a short vid showing some of the action.

Despite the lack of sleep, its a storm chasers paradise at the moment.

More on Water

With so much rain of late, it was only natural to think of a few more ways to photograph that polar molecule.

Water is integral to all life on Earth, so no focus on nature would be complete without a few references to it and its amazing properties - properties that enable life to exist on this planet.

The fact that ice (solid state water) floats on the liquid state could have made the difference between the biodiversity we experience today and something different. If the solid state had sunk, it would not have a chance to melt and would have accumulated resulting much more ice locked up deep at the poles, lower ocean levels and possibly permanent ice age conditions.

So, here are a few shots of bursting balloons that were filled with water.

The way in which the water reacts immediately after the balloon is "removed" (burst) illustrates one of the most amazing properties of water - its polar or "sticky" properties.

Want to know more about water? Go wiki HERE
Want to see previous posts of mine on the amazing water molecule? Go HERE

So here are the shots. Enjoy :)

At the point of bursting.

Big surf

The last few weeks saw a very slow storm front moving across the eastern states of Australia.

Dominated by an intense low pressure system, a vast amount of rain fell from northern
Queensland to Victoria.

This map from the Bureau of Meteorology illustrates the situation as the system left the coast.

Along with the rain came wild seas with just under 6 metre swells.

A short vid of the action that pounded the shores is below, though fails to

capture the immensity of those massive waves.

Some flooding was experienced here, though nothing of the order in other areas.

A few pics to give an idea follow.

With one of the wettest, coolest summers on record and a cool Autumn following, it leaves one to wonder if this Winter will be a reflection of that experienced in the Northern Hemisphere this year.

Visit to Potoroo Palace

With my sister-in-law over for a visit it was only natural to visit a wildlife park so that she 

might become accustomed to some of Australia's wondrous animals up close and personal.

One such park is located a little south of us that fits the bill quite well - The Potoroo Palace.

With resident Kangaroos and Emu to be fed, as well as Native snakes, Echidna and a wide 

variety of native birds it is a most pleasurable diversion even for those accustomed to seeing 

these animals in the wild on a regular basis.

Below are a few shots.

Despite my familiarity with these creatures  I was happy to have 

the surprise of photographing my first white Echidna

I Include a link to their website HERE should you wish to visit this small though interesting wildlife park.

Kickboxing Kangaroos

Today I was lucky enough to see a sparring match between two kangaroos.

The video below captured most of the action and you should pay attention

to the first 4 to 10 seconds where an interaction between one of the opponents

and another kangaroo seem to spark the action that follows.

This video is available in higher resolution HERE

Many wallabies and kangaroo have been present in our area 

of late with this afternoons gathering one of the largest with

over 15 kangaroos present in the mob.

Seahorse find

Last week I was out fishing from the beach, when Madeleine Sing 

found this interesting Seahorse washed ashore.

Being over 30cm in length, it is rather large.

 I have been unable to find a classification for this interesting specimen and would be 

interested to know whether or not it was local to my area of South Eastern Australia.

For the fishermen out there the fishing yielded two nice Salmon.

Predatory dog fights

Below are the photos in relation to my Facebook post at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/DBS-Young-Photography/206128072740954

I believe the action was between two nesting Whistling Kites and a Sea Eagle.

These series of shots document the fast paced aerial action that accompanied protection of 

the Kites young and territory. 

Things got wing to wing often and, at one time, the Sea Eagle crash landed on the river bank.

This photo shows all three birds involved.

The Kites had to be quick to avoid the talons of the Eagle.

This close up of one of the birds doing all the protecting is for ID purposes.

I believe it to be a Whistling Kite.

A spectacular display between predators.

A bird with attitude

You should always have a lookout.

Thats what this Butcher Bird was up to while the scene was unfolding below.

Its mate was sitting with a young bird, on the dogs lead, feeding from the dog bowl.

What is amazing is that the dog was blissfully unaware of the happenings not more that three metres from it.

They even stripped the bone that was left from the Christmas roast.

Butcher Birds are very inquisitive and friendly, one of the adult pair being a bird that was first introduced to us when it was a chick itself.

We have now had four generations of birds introduce their young to us as a good spot for a quick feed.

Luna Eclipse Australia 2011

Although total Luna eclipses are rather common, it is a little hard

 to see two in one  year unless you are willing to do a little travel.

Fortunately I was in Germany earlier this year during such an event

 and even more  fortunate to see one last weekend in Australia.

This weekend's event was nearly marred by cloud cover,

 though It cleared enough to get the following shots.

These were taken over an hour as we progressed to full eclipse.

It then clouded over, though I was able to get some nice glimpses as

 the moon  moved back out of the shadow of the Earth.

The link to the earlier event in Germany is HERE.