Lucy, kids and the new puppies.

Last week my friend Lucy announced on her Facebook site that a new puppy had entered into her family.
She mentioned that she and the kids had gone to the pet shop and seen several puppies and had selected one.
The next day, she invited me to visit, to "see the new puppies". That's right plural puppies.You don't need to be a genius to work out what happened. It took only 24 hours of gentle persuasion by the kids for Lucy to realise that leaving one puppy by itself in the pet shop was not a good strategy.
Lucy has twin girls, Meg and Charlotte, or Charlotte and Meg - depending upon which is closest to you at the time. Now Lucy has twin puppies - Harry (the smaller, whiter one) and Flossie (the slightly larger one with cream colouring in the ears). Apparently they are a Maltese x Shih Tzu blend.

On the weekend I went down to visit Lucy and to check out the puppies. Unfortunately Charlotte was not there - she was off playing at some else's house. The eldest child, George, was there. I managed to take photos of the new puppies, and the (now) Senior Canine, "Stig". He seems quite relaxed about these newcomers, or interlopers. Goodness knows why. I am sure his life will never be the same again.

Harry needed to check out Lena, in the time-honoured doggie manner - careful approach, off to the side, bit of a sniff. Its OK. Everybody relax. Its OK, she's "just a girl" (but neutered) - so neither a threat, nor of very much interest to (young) Harry.

Here is George holding Harry.And Meg, with Flossie.

I hope they will all be very happy together.

Duncan's birthday and a beautiful posting

Our legendary Aussie Nature Blogger colleague Duncan has just posted a doubly beautiful posting.

He celebrated his birthday with some stunning photos of Black Cockatoos. They are well worth a look.

But then he has excelled himself - not only with exquisite images but also a very romantic story of his wife's favourite bird.

Read it for yourself.

Happy birthday, Duncan.

Sassafras Trees bursting into bloom

The Sassafras trees (Doryphora sassafras) of Robertson are bursting into blossom. Their sweet scent hangs on the air. Despite cold winds, one can smell these trees many metres away.
The bright green leaves of this plant are heavily aromatic. To my nose they seem to have a scent reminiscent of rind of Mandarin fruits, but other people describe it as having a nutmeg odour. Either way, the presence of the strong odour in the leaves is used by plants people to confirm the identity of a Sassafras tree in the rainforest, where many plants have similarly shaped, dark green leaves.

These trees only seem to flower heavily every two or three years. In this image you can see the tip of my finger, for scale.
I have shown numerous photos of the Sassafras trees which grow around my house. However, I have not published a good close-up image of the flowers before. My previous effort was photographed on 21 September 2006 - a very late season flowering indeed - and three years ago, which confirms my impression of their irregular flowering.

The flowers are seldom unblemished, for some reason. Possibly it is because of their sweet perfume, which means they have evolved to attract insects. Robertson abounds in insects - moths and midges and other small creatures.

Click to enlarge the image to see the parts of the flower clearly.

The botanical texts say that Sassafras is pollinated by mosquitoes, but just at present, there are few if any of them around - because of the cool weather. So that fact calls into question the botanist's assertions.

For those in other districts who are familiar with another plant known as "Sassafras" those might be the Black (or Southern) Sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum).
Both these trees are both in the family Monimiaceae.

They both derive their name from a superficial resemblance to an American plant of the same name which is also highly aromatic in all its parts. The Australian plants and the American plant are not closely related.

"Sassafras" is used as a place name as well. There is a district in the southern end of the Shoalhaven Valley (NSW) named after this tree, and a village in the Dandenongs named after the more southerly "Sassafras" plant - the Black Sassafras.

Bundanoon to drink "Hypocrisy in a Bottle"

This Bundanoon story has opened up a whole can of worms.
I wrote in my Blog report of the meeting:

• However, I am unclear why the organisers specifically restricted the motion to "still water (only)". The logic behind that distinction eludes me. It smacks of a private deal having been arranged on the side, to not campaign against carbonated mineral waters. If so, it is doubly ironic in view of the supposed concern about the "carbon footprint" of bottled water. Surely "carbonated waters" are doubly undesirable?

Those words were unfortunately prophetic. It has subsequently been confirmed that the Bottled Water industry has arranged to sell huge quantities of sparking mineral water in glass bottles to the shops and hotel in Bundanoon. It should be named "Hypocrisy in a Bottle".

How does this outcome help the Environment?

• Water will still be extracted from the Aquifers of Australia - possibly including Bundanoon's own.
• Glass bottles are even heavier to transport - thus requiring more fossil fuel to transport it around.
• The only benefit is that glass bottles do not float in oceans. That is at best a marginal improvement not an "Environmental Coup".

I have sent the following to The Editor, Daily Telegraph.

• With reference to the Daily Telegraph story: NSW town of Bundanoon votes to ban bottled water (9 July 2009), Unfortunately, the people of Bundanoon were kept in the dark about the real agenda of the public meeting.
• The whole event was a publicity stunt - NOT an environmental coup as we were told it would be.
• I have thought long and hard about what I have written here.
• As a resident of the Southern Highlands, I anticipate not ever being welcome in Bundanoon again. It is simply that I hate to see an entire village being "taken for a ride" by slick publicists and campaigners. And that is what I fear has happened. They may have "put Bundanoon on the world map" - but for zero environmental benefit.

• The reasons for Bundanoon's opposition to Bottled Water have little or nothing to do with carbon footprints and everything to do with opposing a local water bottling plant in the heart of the Village. But that point has been overlooked - that leaving open the question: "Quite why water is being singled out is unclear". (Daily Telegraph Editorial 9 July 2009 - "Tapping a rich vein of lunacy".). Bundanoon has been made to be a laughing stock, in the national press - a subject of public ridicule.
• Bundanoon's citizens deserve better - from the organisers of this meeting.
• Unfortunately, Wednesday's meeting was prevented from discussing an approval by the local Council (on that same afternoon) of a water bottling facility in the village.
• So, Bundanoon may well end up being the first village to declare a moratorium on sale of bottled water, while having a bottled water facility approved to be developed right in the heart of the Village. Yet a full hall of people was prevented from discussing whether or not they agree with Council's approval of the latest Norlex proposal.
• Rather than lose control of the public meeting, (and their own perceived opportunity to be "famous"), the organisers denied the assembled concerned residents of Bundanoon an opportunity to consider the decision made earlier in the day by Council to approve the latest DA by the Norlex company for a water bottling facility.

Patrick - of the Bundy on Tap Committee

• The real issue is the Norlex proposal to build a bottled water processing facility in Bundanoon. The facts of the case were raised on no less than 4 separate occasions by members of the public. Each speaker was abruptly told their comments were "out of order" - to the disbelief of most of the assembled citizens of Bundanoon.
• Consequently, the Daily Telegraph's Editorial was able to easily ridicule the Bundanoon community's concern about carbon footprint of bottled water. The meeting was not about that at all.
• The "Bundy on Tap" committee had a great slogan, but they have been too smart by half in trying to "spin the bottle" story to suit their own purposes.
• The 356 people who attended the meeting tonight were there because of the 3 year campaign to "Don't bore Bundanoon", not because of the carbon footprint issue.
• The people of Bundanoon deserve better - from the organisers of Wednesday's meeting. Unfortunately, it was because of the poor judgement of the meeting organisers, attempting to deny what everybody in Bundanoon knows - that the real issue of concern is "Don't Bore Bundanoon".
• As a result, Bundanoon may well end up being the only town in Australia where sale of bottled water has been rejected by the public, while the Council is facilitating construction of a Water bottling plant in the heart of the village. If so, then the people of Bundanoon must surely regret the lost opportunity of tonight's meeting.
• Peter Falk's call to "march on Council", while perhaps a touch rhetorical, was probably the most sensible comment of the evening.

As I write, the banning of Bottled Water is being ridiculed on Richard Glover's ABC Afternoon program. Bundanoon has even been compared to Springfield (on "The Simpsons"). (ABC Radio 702 at 5:55pm Friday).

Bundanoon votes to boycott Bottled Water

The meeting was Chaired by Huw Kingston, of the "Bundy on Tap" Committee.

Huw Kingston

The Welcome to Country was given by Dr Virginia Falk, a Bundanoon resident, on behalf of the Dharawal and Gundangara peoples of the Southern Highlands region. Dr Falk has recently completed her PhD and spoke about an Aboriginal perspective on water issues. Her concluding remarks were: "Water has a spiritual and cultural integrity of its own".

Jon Dee then showed a 60 Minutes program originally shown in April 2009, on bottled water. (Transcript available here.)This DVD showed how ludicrously expensive boutique bottle water is, thanks to extravagant marketing strategies. The highest cost quoted was for "Cloud Juice" from King Island in Tasmania, which is exported to fancy European restaurants where it is sold for as much as $27 per bottle.

Jon then ran though a PowerPoint presentation showing how plastic is creating enormous problems for the environment.
We were told it takes 200 ml of oil to create, and transport 1 litre of water in a plastic bottle. (In the 60 Minutes report that was simplified down to "it takes 200 ml of oil to make a plastic bottle", but that is not accurate.)

Apparently most of the plastic used to make bottles is imported.

Australians spend half a billion Dollars on bottled water every year.

When questions were called, Geoff Parker from the Australasian Bottle Water Institute Inc spoke. He wondered why Bundanoon, a tourist oriented village would be restricting the freedom of choice of potential visitors to the town (by denying them the freedom to drink their favourite bottled waters).

In response, Jon Dee took him apart (quite vehemently), by pointing out that the Bottled Water Industry (which Geoff represents) was denying freedom of choice to the people of Bundanoon by proposing to build a bottled water plant here, that the people opposed. (Loud applause).

Then the Chairman, Huw Kingston, called on the vote (in the middle of the debate), to allow the media representatives to file their stories. (Now that's a revolutionary approach to democracy in action, folks).

Official tally: 354 for; and 2 against - the Bottled Water guy and one other person who had a concern about diabetics.
I did not fully understand this man's point, as he was not allowed to properly explain his concerns, because they were deemed "not relevant to the point of the meeting". Another victim of a bulldozer response by the Chairman.

***** ***** ***** *****

So, what is the outcome? Bundanoon has proclaimed itself to be "Australia's first Bottled-water-free Village". In my opinion, I think it is a good thing to do. I support that decision.

However, I am unclear why the organisers specifically restricted the motion to "still water (only)". The logic behind that distinction eludes me. It smacks of a private deal having been arranged on the side, to not campaign against carbonated mineral waters. If so, it is doubly ironic in view of the supposed concern about the "carbon footprint" of bottled water. Surely "carbonated waters" are doubly undesirable?

Back to the meeting: At a packed Hall on Wednesday evening, 8 July some 354 people in favour of proclaiming themselves "bottled-water-free". Two people voted against, one of whom was a representative of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute Inc. That's pretty conclusive evidence of the feeling of the meeting against Bottled Water.What is not clear - from that statistic, nor from the Press Statements put out by the organisers of the meeting, after the event was why people were voting the way they did.

The Hall filling up - before the meeting.

The Press reports the organisers of the meeting as claiming: "The voluntary ban has been triggered by concerns about the carbon footprint associated with bottling and transporting the water".

That is what they would like you to think - for it fits Jon Dee's politically correct image as a "nice" environmental campaigner. Jon is renowned as someone who likes to "work with business" to improve the outcomes. He demonstrated that approach at the meeting, with constant exposure of his sponsor's logos.The outcome of this campaign will be closely monitored, you can rest assured.

Back to the claim about what the people of Bundanoon were actually demonstrating their support for last night. What chance do you think you would have to persuade 356 people to turn up to a village hall to campaign against carbon footprint of bottled water? I shall leave you to ponder that question. Let me simply suggest you would get about 35 people, (on a good night) - not 365!

To me, it is self-evident that the reason so many people turned up at the meeting was the long-running battle against the establishment of a Norlex (company) water bottling plant within the village.

Norlex has been opposed vehemently in the village by the "Don't Bore Bundanoon" campaign. At one time, nearly every house in Bundanoon had a "Don't Bore Bundanoon" placard on a stick stuck in their front lawn. That campaign has been going since early 2007.

What the mainstream Media will not tell you is that the Norlex company was granted approval to develop a factory facility in Anzac Pde, Bundanoon - just hours before this meeting was held.

Not only will the mainstream Media not tell you. The meeting organisers tried to prevent that message getting out - to the assembled people of Bundanoon. Clearly they were afraid they would lose control of the meeting.

The fact of Council's earlier vote on the Norlex DA was reported to the meeting, by Mr Peter Falk, and later by Ian Scandrett, and Adrian Shafer, and a lady whose name I do not know. Each of these persons had their comments ruled "out of order", and discussion quickly moved on towards a very narrowly pre-determined outcome.

Supposedly we were not allowed to discuss this because the Norlex company is appealing a disputed Development Application in the land and Environment Court. How could that prevent us from discussing the other Norlex DA application? It does not make sense - other than the organisers of the meeting were terrified they would lose control of the meeting - and they had stage-managed everything so carefully (so far). Huw Kingston had a look of blind panic in his eyes when Peter Falk made his statement and Huw was positively rude in the way he shut Peter up. and denied Adrian the right to speak about Council's decision.

That fact of the Council's decision was surely relevant, as Council had just approved it on that very afternoon. And that decision by Council could not have been "sub judice" as there is not case in dispute - Norlex had already won that case! So why were these people prevented from speaking about this issue?

The answer lies hidden below a load of feel good rhetoric, and self-authorised press releases put out by the organisers of the meeting. Fair enough - they did the work. They are entitled to feed the media. I just object to the Spin that they put on the story.

This is Bundanoon's own version of "Spin the Bottle". They were basking in their own vision of glory.

To believe that the assembled people of Bundanoon were protesting a carbon footprint of bottled water is a self-serving (wet) dream of the promoters of this meeting.
Trust me, I know the people of Bundanoon.
They were at the meeting because they thought they could do something to try to stop Norlex. Nothing more, nothing less. Forget talk of carbon footprints. This was about saving Bundanoon.

But by putting out the sanitised, non-controversial press statement which they obviously gave to the Telegraph reporter allowed the Editor of the Daily Tele to state: "Quite why water is being singled out is unclear."

It is not unclear to the people of Bundanoon. So one would have to rate the Press Statement issued after the meeting as an abject failure - if it did not make the real reasons for the public vote clear.

If the discussion on the night had been about the real issues facing Bundanoon, including the threat to their aquifer, and hence their local springs, creeks and waterfalls, then that facile question could not have been used to undermine the valiant effort of the people of Bundanoon.
As it is the Daily Tele laughed the people of Bundanoon out of court, killed the story and moved the debate to other more trivial "news".

The irony is that now the people of Bundanoon may end up being the only town in Australia with both a ban on bottled water sales in the village, AND a bottled water processing facility on Anzac Parade, right in the heart of the village.

That will be a Pyrrhic victory if ever there is one.

Jon Dee took great delight in showing this slide, pointing out that this word is "Evian" spelled backwards. But the joke backfired. To me it seems more appropriate as a caption for the people of Bundanoon, whose best intentions were hijacked - on the night.

"By whom?" - you might ask.

In my opinion, there was only one winner on the night - Dr Jon Dee.

The Harbinger of "Spring" - Prunus mume

I know, I know - its not really Spring, but when I see the first of the Prunus flowers, which I always have associated with Spring, then I get excited. To me, this plant is the Harbinger*** of Spring. I know we have not long passed the Winter Solstice (the shortest day or the longest night) which is technically the middle of the winter season.
I knew a friend in Canberra who grew the same plant as this - the Weeping Ornamental Almond - Prunus mume (a grafted standard, weeping form), and he always boasted that his courtyard experienced Spring earlier than anywhere else in Canberra. For this variety is indeed the earliest (that I know of) of the entire range of Prunus species to flower.
So, when I first moved to Robertson years ago, and saw this tree in flower in the first week of July, I knew exactly what it was. Recently my friends Pip and Dave moved into this house, so I poppped in yesterday to ask permission to take some photos of this tree - for it really is special.
In my garden I grow many forms of Prunus blossom trees, and some will not flower for several months - such is the range of flowering time for them.
But I really like this one, for it is the harbinger of spring - for me.

*** A harbinger is a sign of things to come. (Wikipedia)

Wedgie at the Flinders Ranges

Every now and then a friend shows you some photos you wish you had taken.

I have never been to the Flinders Ranges, in South Australia, but my friends Phillip and Cathie Owen have been. Last Wednesday, at the CTC Choir practice, Cathie showed me some photos - and this series just stood out as worthy of publishing.

So, here they are.

Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) on ground, near a dead Kangaroo.

This bird is probably relatively young, as it shows a lot of red on the neck.
Wedgies get progressively darker as they age.

This bird is nervous, looking around to the right.

It has taken flight.
Note how powerfully it is flapping.
The huge wing feathers are bending under the pressure of the down-stroke.
The wedge-shaped tail is fully spread, to give "lift" as the bird if taking off.

As the bird is clear of the ground, it tilts its right wing down
to begin moving away, under full power.

Quite possibly it would have flown to a safe perching point, within sight of this road kill, so that it could come back after the human intruders had left. For a Wedge-tailed Eagle, A freshly killed Kangaroo is too good an opportunity to pass up.

Thanks to Cathie and Phillip Owen for the use of their photos.