Happy Christmas and a very good New Year.
For those of you who know me for my water lobbying, or my other endeavours (or hobbies), or just for drinking coffee at Cafe Pirouette, or for wearing a Blue Hat around Robertson, I also spend a lot of time trying to photograph Orchids.
This is why.
This is my Christmas image for the year 2010 - a Copper Beard Orchid - so named for obvious reasons. (Calochilus campestris)
Click on image to see it in its full glory
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| Calochilus campestris - the Copper Beard Orchid Photo: DJ Wilson |
The flower is about an inch and a half long (roughly 40 mm).
But it grows on quite a tall stem (waist height), with about 6 - 8 flowers on a good plant.
The "false eyes" are scent glands
which serve to attract insect pollinators to the flower.
This plant is part of the marvels of Nature in Robertson.
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| Calochilus campestris - side on - DJ Wilson |
One of those things which is there for everyone to see,
but so few people take the time to actually look.
Best wishes to you for the Season and the New Year.
Peace to all.
Cheers
Denis Wilson
18 comments:
Merry Christmas, Denis!
Thanks Snail.
Merry Christmas to you.
Cheers
Denis
Festive greetings, Denis, and all the best for 2011.
Thanks Tony
You seem to be close to lots of rain, and presumably cyclonic winds.
Hope you are tied down well.
Thanks for visiting, and keep up the good Blogging.
My only other commenter was "Snail", so good work by the tropical bloggers today.
Maybe she couldn't sleep with the storm outside, but I wouldn't trust computers in thunderstorms.
Cheers
Denis
Dear Denis, happy christmas (nearly over) and happy new year. There is so much to see and I notice also how few people are mindful enough to look. (you can't see if you don't look - could be the name of a song?) orchids I notice in the wild have been much smaller than this giant one. cheers, catmint
Wonderful photos. Merry Christmas Denis. Your contribution to the fight for water and against the ills of coal and gas exploration, to the Robertson region and for your delightful blog in general is greatly appreciated by a fellow online writer and campaigner.
May 2011 bring us the change we need to continue our hobbies rather than fighting big business and cowardly and corrupt governments.
Thanks Peter
I really appreciate your comments. Especially this comment: "May 2011 bring us the change we need to continue our hobbies rather than fighting big business and cowardly and corrupt governments."
That nearly made me cry, for I just cannot foresee how such a change can be realised, given the political system we have. For God's sake even our Parliament has been prorogued until the far end of March 2011 - three and a half months of legal dictatorship.
But I appreciate your comments greatly, Peter.
Denis
Thanks Catmint.
I'm really glad you picked up on my comment: "so few people take the time to actually look".
Your form of that same idea is great.
"you can't see if you don't look".
Love it.
Happy Christmas and New Year to you and your garden full of living plants and creatures.
Regards
Denis
Hello Denis,
spectacular photography! And a subject that I appreciate immensely - the delicate ground orchids.
Best wishes for good health and happiness for the coming year, and congratulations on your dedication to such vital causes.
Kind regards,
Gaye
hopefully we can get out shortly and have a good hard look at whats out there soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love Kirsten
Thanks Kirsten and Gaye - both of you good observers yourselves.
Alan and I picked up the tiny Sarchochilus hillii in flower today. I had seen the plants before, but never in flower.
So that's another thrill for me.
There are still more adventures ahead Kirsten.
Gaye hope you are surviving the wet season OK.
Pretty amazing, really.
Dorothea Mackellar knew her stuff - a land of droughts and flooding rains.
Cheers to you both.
Denis
Yes Denis, and it is all pretty amazing, with double the usual annual rainfall. The farming situation is tragic - with wonderful spring rains it looked like farmers would get their first bountiful crops in about 12 years, but now most are not harvestable. Very sad indeed.
We tried our luck on a trip out to the Macquarie Marshes yesterday, for the bird life will be amazing, but water over roads stopped us. We'll have another go in a couple of weeks.
Birds up here are breeding, even some just starting their nest building, so plenty to see.
Cheers,
Gaye
Dear Denis, I wish you a Happy 2011.
See more such beautiful pictures of our beautiful and wonderful natural and fight on for their reception. Greetings from the cold and deep snow (> 1 m) of Germany. Peter
Hi Peter.
It must be hard to find fungi under a metre of snow.
Thanks for your kind wishes.
Cheers
Denis
Yes Denis, mushrooms, it now looks bad. In particular, currently at - 19 degrees. Extremely cold for us too.
Peter
My sympathies are with you, Peter.
-19* Celsius is severe in any person's understanding. Truly arctic or antarctic conditions.
Stay inside, and stay warm, Peter.
Many parts of Australia are under flood waters now.
The climate is paying us back for polluting the world. Makes me believe in the "Gaia hypothesis".
Regards
Denis
Yes Denis, since you can only stay in a warm room. The air masses come from Northern Europe (Scandinavia) to us. But this is not unusual for us and comes every couple of years ago views. The energy company is looking forward and we must pay. All criminals. In Germany there are four of these corporations, they have concentrated power. The prices they can set virtually at will, despite the cartel office.
Peter
Energy Cartels are like that, world- wide, unfortunately.
Stay inside, and stay warm.
Save up to pay the bill.
Smile a lot, Peter.
That's the role of Television to keep you mindless and happy.
Aaargh!
Too much truth!
Cheers
Denis
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