Hopefully, you can all view this album, posted on Facebook.
They swear it is accessible to non-member of Facebook.
I do hope so.
The link is:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151891443779829.1073741829.809229828&type=1&l=b166330a7d
Please let me know via email, if you cannot access it.
Do not sign up for Facebook just to view these images.
I am just testing if Facebook is truthful in what they tell me.
Christmas Bells
Christmas Bells - Blandfordia nobilis
Showing posts with label Railway.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Railway.. Show all posts
Monday, May 06, 2013
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Water loving birds in Robertson
There is a small creek, Caalang Creek, which runs through the centre of the village of Robertson.
It is not very accessible, because the houses approach the creek, and one needs to find a laneway, or an undeveloped block of land, from which to approach the creek.
In one area, there is an old dam which was created by one of the old landholders, back in the day when potatoes were still being grown close to the village. The dam is now surrounded by houses, not potato farms. This is very good for the local birds, some of which have trained the local residents to give them the occasional feed. Other birds are just getting on with their natural lives in this reasonably natural environment.
I was sent an email a few days ago by Sandy, a friend who knows I am a keen birdwatcher, to report that she had seen a pair of Buff-banded Rails (Gallirallus philippensis), and some chicks, in the thick Lomandra vegetation beside the creek. Naturally I could not resist following up this lead.
I did not see the chicks, but, as soon as I turned up, I saw a pair of rails chasing eachother around on the grassy edge of the reserve. Of course, they scarpered when they saw me coming, but eventually, after about half an hour, one of them came back out into the open (just). That at least allowed me to get one clearly identifiable shot.
I returned the next day (today), and while I did not see the rails, I saw lots of other water birds. One which surprised me was a Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus). The surprise was not because I saw it, but because it was behaving like a conventional Kingfisher - hanging out near the dam - which they do not often do). 
A pair of Little (Australasian) Grebes (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae) were very busy building their nest - a typical floating raft of reeds and other water plants.
This shows a Grebe carrying some water weed with which to build the nest. Please forgive the low quality photo, but it was a distant shot, across the dam. But the activity is interesting to observe.
And three Domestic Geese "sailed" across the pond when they saw me. Clearly they were coming across for their daily feed. I left without feeding them.
It is not very accessible, because the houses approach the creek, and one needs to find a laneway, or an undeveloped block of land, from which to approach the creek.
In one area, there is an old dam which was created by one of the old landholders, back in the day when potatoes were still being grown close to the village. The dam is now surrounded by houses, not potato farms. This is very good for the local birds, some of which have trained the local residents to give them the occasional feed. Other birds are just getting on with their natural lives in this reasonably natural environment.
I was sent an email a few days ago by Sandy, a friend who knows I am a keen birdwatcher, to report that she had seen a pair of Buff-banded Rails (Gallirallus philippensis), and some chicks, in the thick Lomandra vegetation beside the creek. Naturally I could not resist following up this lead.
I did not see the chicks, but, as soon as I turned up, I saw a pair of rails chasing eachother around on the grassy edge of the reserve. Of course, they scarpered when they saw me coming, but eventually, after about half an hour, one of them came back out into the open (just). That at least allowed me to get one clearly identifiable shot.
I returned the next day (today), and while I did not see the rails, I saw lots of other water birds. One which surprised me was a Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus). The surprise was not because I saw it, but because it was behaving like a conventional Kingfisher - hanging out near the dam - which they do not often do). 
A pair of Little (Australasian) Grebes (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae) were very busy building their nest - a typical floating raft of reeds and other water plants.
This shows a Grebe carrying some water weed with which to build the nest. Please forgive the low quality photo, but it was a distant shot, across the dam. But the activity is interesting to observe.
And three Domestic Geese "sailed" across the pond when they saw me. Clearly they were coming across for their daily feed. I left without feeding them.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
3830 Steam locomotive - visit to Robertson
"Locomotive 3830 represents the epitome of steam locomotive development in New South Wales. ...... Locomotive 3830 was the last of the 38 class locomotives to be produced. ...... The 38 class locomotives were designed by the New South Wales Government Railways, under the leadership of Harold Young, last of the railways' Chief Mechanical Engineers of the steam era......
It was built at the Eveleigh Railway Workshops and went into service on 27 September, 1949......... Restoration of the locomotive began in August 1992 and was jointly undertaken by the (Powerhouse) Museum and 3801 Limited, operators of steam locomotive 3801.
Source: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=85075
It almost seems the train's steam engine created the fog. It did not. The fog is natural.
It was built at the Eveleigh Railway Workshops and went into service on 27 September, 1949......... Restoration of the locomotive began in August 1992 and was jointly undertaken by the (Powerhouse) Museum and 3801 Limited, operators of steam locomotive 3801.
Source: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=85075
It almost seems the train's steam engine created the fog. It did not. The fog is natural.
It got darker and darker, within minutes, just as the 3830 was getting ready to depart.
See yesterday's images.I cannot but think this guy wanted to be a Train Driver. In fact, he may have been one,
as many of the enthusiasts are former train workers.
The way he was staring at the train through the fence, as it powered up, was very poignant.Here is goes - straight past me - through the fog - at the road crossing on Meryla Street,
adjacent to the Robertson Heritage Railway Station.They were cheating! At the end of the train, there was a damned messy
(and decidedly unromantic) diesel engine, pushing from behind.
Because of the thick fog, I had not seen the diesel engine until it went past me.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
A big day in Robbo. Crowds, trains, cars and mist.
Today, the Robertson Heritage Railway Station (RHRS) hosted a vintage car display (on the "Robertson Common"). There were crowds of people all over the place.
The RHRS also hosted a visit by the Historic Rail Motor CPH 18, which ran 6 short trips, back and forth to Mt Murray Station (to the east of Robertson) and to Calwalla (to the west). 
In addition, the regular "Cockatoo Run" train visit to Robertson is now linked to a bus connection to Knights Hill, for persons wishing to make the trip from Sydney via train, and to include a visit to the Illawarra Fly.
The Robertson Markets were also on, at the School of Arts building. So there were people all over Robertson today. There were traffic jams, even! A rare event for our little village.
After clear weather in the middle of the day, in the late afternoon the sky darkened out over the Macquarie Pass escarpment. I decided to go and shoot the threatening clouds.
As a matter of interest, this photo is taken at exactly the same place as the "morning light" photo on the mast-head of my blog. In this photo am looking just slightly further north from the mast-head photo, which naturally was taken looking east, to catch the rising sun.
Out on the Mt Murray Road there is a little-known place where there is an amazing perspective on the cliffs over the top of the Macquarie Pass. You can literally see the clouds forming, as the moist afternoon air rose over the rocks, just in front of my camera. 
And the late afternoon skies were even more dramatic as the lights came on down in Albion Park, way below me. More mist-forming is evident in this image, too.
My favourite shot of the very top of Macquarie Pass. The trees on these cliffs overlook the last stretch of the Pass (the Illawarra Highway passes directly below that point). A steep and somewhat dangerous place to visit, but it looked very striking with the threatening clouds.
I love the way the changing light makes the whole world look different, minute by minute. Here I was in a different place, a different world even, from the hurly-burly of the afternoon. But I was just 5 kilometres away from Robertson.
The RHRS also hosted a visit by the Historic Rail Motor CPH 18, which ran 6 short trips, back and forth to Mt Murray Station (to the east of Robertson) and to Calwalla (to the west). 
In addition, the regular "Cockatoo Run" train visit to Robertson is now linked to a bus connection to Knights Hill, for persons wishing to make the trip from Sydney via train, and to include a visit to the Illawarra Fly.The Robertson Markets were also on, at the School of Arts building. So there were people all over Robertson today. There were traffic jams, even! A rare event for our little village.
After clear weather in the middle of the day, in the late afternoon the sky darkened out over the Macquarie Pass escarpment. I decided to go and shoot the threatening clouds.As a matter of interest, this photo is taken at exactly the same place as the "morning light" photo on the mast-head of my blog. In this photo am looking just slightly further north from the mast-head photo, which naturally was taken looking east, to catch the rising sun.
Out on the Mt Murray Road there is a little-known place where there is an amazing perspective on the cliffs over the top of the Macquarie Pass. You can literally see the clouds forming, as the moist afternoon air rose over the rocks, just in front of my camera. 
And the late afternoon skies were even more dramatic as the lights came on down in Albion Park, way below me. More mist-forming is evident in this image, too.
My favourite shot of the very top of Macquarie Pass. The trees on these cliffs overlook the last stretch of the Pass (the Illawarra Highway passes directly below that point). A steep and somewhat dangerous place to visit, but it looked very striking with the threatening clouds.
I love the way the changing light makes the whole world look different, minute by minute. Here I was in a different place, a different world even, from the hurly-burly of the afternoon. But I was just 5 kilometres away from Robertson.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Galahs love playing on the Powerlines.
Every now and then the Galahs of Robertson settle down on the power lines, to get into some serious preening. Galahs spend an enormous amount of time preening their feathers, and (as they are co-operative birds) preening eachother. Although these birds were part of larger flock, it is typical of Galahs that they sit closely, in pairs, even within a larger group.
These photos are from several weeks back, taken on a particularly bright sunny afternoon, late in the afternoon (hence the bright, horizontal light).
Galahs are not "natural" to Robertson, which is a heavy rainforest area, originally. That makes us the natural habitat of Crimson Rosellas and King Parrots. However, humans moved in (in the 1860s), and cleared much of the forest. Then we put in a railway line, and then cart grain to Port Kembla (the port of Wollongong), for export overseas. Some of the grain inevitably drops off the train, and bingo, you have a permanent food source for Galahs.
For a Galah, "playing" includes chewing on the Power line.
This is safe for the Galah, as long as it only touches the one line, for the power runs safely through the bird (there is no "power differential"). It is only if it gets "earthed" or touches another line that it risks electrocution. Flying Foxes (Fruit Bats) get electrocuted, because they touch two lines at the one time, with their wings spread wide, whereas, Galahs land with their feet together on the one line.
The next thing is that people like to "feed the birds", and grain and food scraps are the normal food they leave out. That suits the Galahs too. In this particular case, there were in fact about 15 Galahs on the power lines along a country road, about 500 metres from the railway line, which tells me that the people along this road feed these Galahs. I am not a"purist", but I do not feed birds at my house. Instead, I try to provide a natural habitat for truly local (endemic) birds, not Galahs, nor Crested Pigeons, both of which are native birds, but not "natural" in Robertson.
A pair of Galahs, preening.
These photos are from several weeks back, taken on a particularly bright sunny afternoon, late in the afternoon (hence the bright, horizontal light).One of the Galahs, suddenly decides it is time to "play"
Galahs are not "natural" to Robertson, which is a heavy rainforest area, originally. That makes us the natural habitat of Crimson Rosellas and King Parrots. However, humans moved in (in the 1860s), and cleared much of the forest. Then we put in a railway line, and then cart grain to Port Kembla (the port of Wollongong), for export overseas. Some of the grain inevitably drops off the train, and bingo, you have a permanent food source for Galahs.For a Galah, "playing" includes chewing on the Power line.
This is safe for the Galah, as long as it only touches the one line, for the power runs safely through the bird (there is no "power differential"). It is only if it gets "earthed" or touches another line that it risks electrocution. Flying Foxes (Fruit Bats) get electrocuted, because they touch two lines at the one time, with their wings spread wide, whereas, Galahs land with their feet together on the one line.
The next thing is that people like to "feed the birds", and grain and food scraps are the normal food they leave out. That suits the Galahs too. In this particular case, there were in fact about 15 Galahs on the power lines along a country road, about 500 metres from the railway line, which tells me that the people along this road feed these Galahs. I am not a"purist", but I do not feed birds at my house. Instead, I try to provide a natural habitat for truly local (endemic) birds, not Galahs, nor Crested Pigeons, both of which are native birds, but not "natural" in Robertson.And after a bit of "play", its back to serious preening.
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