The importance of footwear in the Highlands

I wear boots - good quality Italian hiking boots (Scarpa).
I wear them all the time.

It is not a fashion statement (nothing about me is a fashion statement). It is simply practical.
Good boots offer support for one's ankles and feet. It is also a protection from grass-seeds, sharp sticks poking my toes, and of course, potential protection from Snakes and Spiders and helps with Leeches as well. I do not worry about Snakes and Spiders, but nor do I ignore their potential bites. I simply wear sensible protective footwear.

Why am I going on about this?

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Well, it is because I found myself in a "Enviro-bubble" in Burrawang yesterday.
I went to the Burrawang Pub, with Kirsten, after our excursion to Fitzroy Falls and then Kangaloon, looking for Orchids.
The Pub was very busy. Fair enough it was Saturday lunchtime.
But that was not the problem.

i genuinely felt ill at ease in the Burrawang Pub yesterday.
After a while I realised that I was surrounded by transplanted city people "enjoying the country" - hence my reference to "Enviro-bubble". This was not just a social bubble (that was the first, and most obvious impression). But it was more:- these people appeared to have transported their entire world, and their environment with them.
This is an achievement which would have challenged Dr Who and his Tardis.

The clue was not just in their strange clothing (one expects city women to wear skimpy city clothes, and the men to wear designer shorts and short-sleeved shirts), but specifically, it was their footwear.
The men wore canvas shoes (no socks), or thongs.
The women wore various stylish sandals, or up-market thongs.

Their footwear simply was suitable for only walking from the car to the Pub, and back again. Certainly one could not safely walk down the paddock to check if the cow has given birth yet. (as if these people would even know to what I am referring).

It was this realisation which made me realise that suddenly the Burrawang Pub had become part of the North Shore, or Eastern Suburbs.
We had been transported to an alien place.
I could barely wait to finish off my very nice Coopers Light, and escape to the door.

Once outside, we drove away from Burrawang, the back way, down through Wildes Meadow, Belmore Falls Road and escaped back to the real world - much to my relief.

Advertisement from Burrawang Store.

By the way, as proof of this "Enviro-bubble" I had been trapped in, here is corroborating evidence that I was also in a Time Warp, for the Daily Telegraph was offered at one penny in the "old money".
So, even way back then "The Tele" was not worth the money.

So that was my one "real experience" I can take with me, from my trip to Burrawang.
I will go back again, some time, but certainly never again at peak Summer Holiday Season.

Too hot for Orchids, but the Butterflies were happy.

Alan Stephenson and another Orchid colleague, Kirsten came up to Robbo today, to search for the Elbow Orchid we saw last year, near the Canal at Fitzroy Falls. But, it was so hot and dry, that no self-respecting Orchid wanted to flower for us. We did see some dried capsules of Thelymitras (Sun Orchids) and some seed capsules of probable Calochilus (Bearded Orchids).

The temperature peaked at 31.8 C (according to the Robertson Bush Fire Brigade's Weather Station). I know it has been much hotter elsewhere - but frankly, that's why I chose to live in Robertson.

We did take the opportunity to walk along the "far end" of the East Rim Walk at Fitzroy Falls.

Looking south-west over the Shoalhaven Valley
from the East Rim Walk.
The brownish patch of vegetation
shows where Eucalypts
are growing on a drier section
of the valley slope.

Fifty Shades of Green
Looking into the Rainforest Gully
(Yarrunga Creek)
(below the drier sandstone plateau)
The trees are Coachwood, Sassafras, Pencil Cedars
and some Cabbage Tree Palms

Looking further up the Yarrunga Creek gorge
(below Fitzroy Falls)

Regarding Orchids, my earlier statements were slightly inaccurate. We did see a few poor specimens of Hyacinth Orchids (Dipodium roseum) down on Tourist Road, in Kangaloon.

Dipodium roseum
The only Orchid photographing today.
It had a lovely bright colour,
which was refreshing.
There were a few dried up specimens
of Little Tongue Orchids
which I declined to photograph.

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But the Butterflies were rejoicing in the heat. Below Burrawang (beside the Illawarra Highway) there is a patch of Purple Top (a weedy Verbena) which the Cabbage White Butterflies absolutely love to hang out on.

Patch of Purple Top
(Verbena bonariensis)
which is dotted with Cabbage White Butterflies

The field below these Purple Tops
is planted with
"Leafy Turnips" which are a summer
fodder crop for Dairy Cattle.

The connection with the Butterflies is shown in the two names:

Brassica rapa (Linnaeus) is the name of the Turnip.
Pieris rapae (Linnaeus, 1758) - the Cabbage White Butterfly).
The vegetable and the insect were both named by Linnaeus. More importantly they both share the specific name because one is the "Food Plant" of the other.

The adult butterflies are attracted to the flowers of the Purple Tops, but they lay their eggs in the Turnip crop just below the fence, as Turnips are related to Cabbages, and they provide the necessary food for the Caterpillars of these Butterflies.

Good News for the High Country in Victoria

The Baillieu government has failed in its legal bid to overturn a ban by the Commonwealth on its plans to return cattle grazing to the Alpine National Park.
In a judgment handed down in the Federal Court on Friday, Justice Susan Kenny dismissed Victoria's case on all grounds and ordered the state to pay legal costs.
The Baillieu government had wanted to run a six-year trial to test whether cattle grazing curbed bushfire risk by reducing fuel loads.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/cattle-grazing-ban-to-stand-20130104-2c8b0.html#ixzz2GzA7xVUg

Tiger Snake

Graphic Image Warning: - deceased animal photographed for educational purposes.
If you are unlikely to want to see these images, please come back to my Blog tomorrow.

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Tonight I received a call from a good friend saying that they had discovered a Tiger Snake inside their lounge room tonight, and that, naturally, the Snake had been killed.

Now I know not everybody will agree with this action, but even I, as a naturalist, can understand why a family with three kids in the house (2 visiting city kids) and 4 adults (2 city folks) and 3 dogs would take abrupt and decisive action to remove a venomous snake from within the house.

My position is that, regardless of whether or not everyone agrees, I can understand why this action was taken. But given that my involvement was "ex post facto", I might as well try to show something about how to identify a real Tiger Snake.

Hence this post.

This Tiger Snake was reasonably thin, but it was 90 cm long.
I have seen much thicker Tiger Snakes, but not many in Robertson. 

To see the details of these images better, please click on each image, to enlarge it. 

Fine markings (banding) of this Tiger Snake

Mouth open showing tongue.

Scale pattern on top of head

Upside down view of snake's mouth.
The fangs are just visible
protruding from the tissues of the roof of the mouth.
The tip of the tongue is also just protruding
from lower jaw.

More images from Cloud Farm

These images were taken two weeks ago - initially in the late afternoon, and then the following morning.

Sunset on mackerel clouds, 

over the local Gum trees.

View looking west over the Studio.

Pink washed clouds
with studio in foreground

Studio with clouds showing colour

Cloud Farm Studio
By raising the ISO settings in the camera,
I washed out the sky colour,
but shows detail of the building.

Next morning, looking south-east from the house
along the Knights Hill escarpment

a zoomed view of the same escarpment points
- the ridges leading off from Knights Hill.

Christmas Orchid - Calanthe australasica

I have written before about this Christmas Orchid.

It is not quite a "local", but it is growing on the South Coast of NSW, around Ulladulla. But its name and flower-timing makes it totally appropriate for my posting at Christmas.

Last week, on the way back to Robertson from Merimbula, I stopped off at a particular locality, beside the Princes Highway, where the Christmas Orchid is known to be found.
Two minutes checking, and these images were in my Camera.

Flower head of Christmas Orchid

The flower of Calanthe australasica

Merimbula Weekend with people of "the Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness"

I spend last Thursday, Friday and Saturday (13, 14, 15 December) with the organisers of the Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness.

I refrained from taking photos of the gathering, because I was a guest, not a local. But we went on an outing to Mogareeka and these are some of the birds we saw.

I felt sorry for this Great Cormorant which
obviously has been snagged with fishing line
and some Sea Weed dragging behind it.
Not only does it interfere with its flying,
but it will also drag when the  Cormorant is diving to catch fish.

Fairy Tern are distinguishable in breeding plumage by their entirely yellow beaks (Higgins & Davies 1996) and the black patch at the eye which does not extend to a point at the bill (Cox & Close 1977). For more information please visit this site> http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=82950

This is a Fairy Tern (a rare breeder in NSW).
Note the chick hiding under the driftwood at left.
White patch in front of eyes, bill yellow.
(no black tip to bill when breeding)
(click on image to see detail)

For good information on the Little Tern recovery plan please visit this link: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/recoveryPlanFinalLittleTern.pdf

The endangered Little Tern in breeding plumage.
Note the black line in front of eyes, going to the base of beak,
and black tip of the bill (click on image to see detail)

I love this image.
With the prospect of wash-outs of nests on the recent King Tides
the local team of human volunteers built sand-bag "castles"
and lifted the eggs and surrounding shells, etc
onto these raised nests.
The birds have taken to these "castles" very successfully, as you can see,
This Little Tern is being very watchful.
It is looking out for marauding Gulls and Ravens.

This "runner" (recently hatched Tern chick) is running for its life.
It had been grabbed by the wing by one Silver Gull,
Then suddenly four Gulls were having a go at it.
Human intervention chased the Gulls away, and the "runner"
was scampering back to the main colony.
An adult Tern came to sit beside it shortly after I took this "action shot".
Hopefully it has learn its lesson.

A Little Tern flying in with a fish for its partner.
They are such elegant fliers.

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PLEASE CONSIDER SIGNING THIS PETITION; it aims to reaffirm, maintain and where possible enhance support for the Shorebird Recovery Program and the legal, scientific and policy framework that underpins it.

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White-throated Needletails used be called Spine-tailed Swifts.
They are some of the fastest fliers known.
See this link for more images:
http://photogallery.canberrabirds.org.au/Species%20HTML/white-throated_needletail.html

Talking about elegant fliers
Compare the wing shape of this White-throated Needletail
and the Little Tern.
If anything, the Tern's wing shape is even more tapered
than that of the Needletail.
Sorry about the poor quality of both images
but its the best I can do with a hand-held "Still" camera.

Apologies to my regular readers for my unscheduled absence from Blogging.
Hopefully I will be able to continue with regular blogging again.

I am house-sitting for some friends at present, and I am "learning" to use an Apple Lap-top, with limited USB ports. At present I am restricted to up-loading images from home and then blogging from the alternative address.
Dapto, Edie and Possum are all well.