Raptor Domain

We went to visit Raptor Domain which is on the South Coast of Kangaroo Island.  They have a fantastic interactive show where audience members get to hold and pet some of the smaller birds.

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Jedda the Wedge-tailed Eagle
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Black-breasted Buzzard. They use stones to crack Emu eggs to make them easier to open.
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Laughing Kookaburra
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Casper the Barn Owl
owl
Southern Boobook Owl

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Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island

The week just gone by I spent on Kangaroo Island which is off the coast of South Australia.  Saw some incredible things.  This is the first blog of probably quite a few!  These are the ‘Remarkable Rocks’ – and they really were!  Taken about an hour or so after sunrise.

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Seeing red (and yellow)…

Today we went for a walk at Cameron Lodge Garden in Mount Macedon which is renowned for its beautiful historical gardens. Many of the gardens are over a 100 years old and contain fine examples of rare northern hemisphere trees and shrubs.  As we enter autumn the colours and fungi are magnificent.

Golden light
Golden light
Fly
Amanita muscaria or fly agaric – yes there was a fly!!
Maple
Red maple
Chestnut
A rare variegated chestnut
Yellow
Yellow maple

How many can YOU see?!!

I’ve often seen large flocks of Corella but nothing quite like this before!  The photos were taken on the banks of the Loddon River at Newbridge, north central Victoria.  It felt like there were hundreds of them, filling several very large trees and the noise was so loud! (Click to enlarge for the best view).

Corella tree
Sheer numbers!
Corella flight
Flight
Corella branch
Out on a limb!
Corella
Any room left?

Eye to eye…..

As a ‘friend’ of Melbourne Zoo I have the luxury of visiting as many times I want in a year.  Yesterday I visited the big cats and primates.

Manderill
Mandrill
snow leopard
snow leopard
Gorilla 1
Yes…?
smug
smug
Ape 1
Concentrating!
Mane
What a mane!
Tiger burning bright
Tiger tiger burning bright!

Let there be light!

Yesterday afternoon was very dull and overcast, so much so, that I needed to turn on a table lamp.  Inspired by the lampshade design I decided to make a rudimentary lightbox by placing sheets of baking paper over the top of the shade and covering this with an old piece of  fish tank glass.  The experiment worked reasonably well apart from the size constraints of the opening of the lampshade!

Plum leaf
Plum leaf
Pansy
Pansy
Green leaf
Green leaf
Dandelion
Dandelion
Sage leaf
Sage leaf

Diamonds are forever??

The heavy morning fogs in autumn add a magical beauty to nature.  The water droplets on these spider webs highlight the amazing intricacies and also the skills of their builders.

emerald
Emerald
diamonds and lace
Lacework
eye level
Eye level
evening dress
Reflections
Suspension
Suspension
perfection
Perfection

Autumn blooms?

This afternoon I found fungi growing in the wood mulch of the garden – yes autumn is here.  Apart from the orange ones which were really bright, the others were so tiny I almost missed them.  Most were the size of a match head.  My knowledge of these types of fungi could probably fit on a match head so if anyone knows what they are I’d be glad to hear!

Toadstool 3's Orange Crowd 1 One a