OUR WORLD - Now You See It, Now You Non't

I took these photos some time ago, when we were in 

the high country of Victoria.

On the way up to Mt.Buffalo, this pile of rock - no idea what 

the mountain was called - caught my eye.

On the way back from the climb to the summit, clouds were 

rolling in at a great rate.

They rolled in at such a rate that within a few minutes,

the whole pile vanished

only to reappear a moment later.

Ah, the vagaries of weather. 

If only life were like that and could restore 

which had been wiped out. 

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MY WORLD ~ Temperate Rainforest

Let me take you to a place I really love, the

temperate rainforest of Victoria, where the

trees are tall, the rivers flow and the air smells

sweet at this time of year.

Although most of the area has been prey to major bushfires

throughout the years and the giants of the forest that used to

rival the redwoods of California are gone now, there is still

magic in these mountains.

When the understory Pittosporums spread their scent and

feed butterflies on ambrosia, you know it is springtime.

I love the trees being too tall for my camera lens and needing

to crane one's neck seriously to see to their heads in the clouds.

The scars of the last fire are still clearly visible, yet the forest in

its majesty is no less impressive than before.

Show us what touches your heart in OUR WORLD, the more, the merrier!

World Bird Wednesday - Rainforest Adventure

While visiting in Melbourne I spotted a couple of ducks in the

wetlands and thought 'yea, right, same old, same old . . .'

but to my surprise, when uploaded and looked up, they turned

out to be pair of Chestnut Teals, Anas castanca, a lifer for me!

We also headed up into the Great Dividing Range and it's

temperate rainforest, a magnetic attraction for us who hiked

these mountains extensively in our salad days.

Stopped at the Mt.Dom Dom saddle recreation area where himself

wanted to climb to the top as any good mountain goat would do

and yours truly, camera in hand, had other intentions.

First (unavoidable) catch, the ubiquitous magpie at my feet as

soon as I opened the hatch to get a mandarin.

Hearing lots of bird sounds in the Acacia re-growth scrub,

I headed to the thicket but the dense growth totally foiled me.

I tried the steep descent towards the creek where a lot of tweeting,

twittering and chirping was going on . . occasionally I spotted

a fleeting glimpse of tiny feathered things flitting across my path

but nothing at all that I could even try pointing my shooter at.

Pretty exhausted, I shlepped my trusty hand extension up the

hill again. Huffing and puffing like a steam engine I wormed

my way back up . . .

and just when I had accepted my empty handed fate, this

little Silvereye moved enough so I could see it and landed

close enough so I could land it too.

Where there is one, company soon appears. I have no idea

what this little one is but I was grateful for anything barely

within the range of my 135mm lens.

Pretty indistinct, yet definitely a bird not a kangaroo.

The flash of a wing caught by pure chance as it fluttered to

another twig.

Thank the Lord fasting for the photoshop cropping device,

Can you pick the little bird in this?? I could definitely not see

a bird that sat still and when it moved, I often could not find

it in my sights. Pretty useless being addicted to stalking when

you are blind as a bat and can't carry a decent sized lens with

you. Yet still, like a blind chicken, you sometimes find a barley

corn.

Hiding behind a branch and heavily cropped, my lucky

last shot before I stopped to give my eyes a rest.

Hope you all had fun birding this week and show us the results

by adding your posts to World Bird Wednesday!

MY WORLD ~ A Long Walk

1,000 miles from home, near Porepunkah, Victoria, we enjoyed

a quiet holiday with daily walks. This was one of the long ones.

Down a disused, leaf-hidden path in an Elm thicket we went . . .

with bright fungi lit by a stray sunbeam,

down to the Overs River where it flowed tranquil and wide.

Our shady untrodden path was like something out of a half

remembered fairy tale and, as things happen in fairy tales and

dreams, from this cool moist thicket,

we were shot out into the stark sunlight with hard baked

earth to plod upon . . . and a late and rather moth-eaten

butterfly.

Once again, Stewart M has risen to the challenge and identified

this little pretty as a Meadow Angel, a very apt name too.

down to a river-bend that was anything but tame. The flood

had ripped up trees along the bank and built up a whole gravel

pit of broken stones on the inside curve while tearing down

everything on the other bank.

The smooth flow of the river, was here a raging torrent.

The built up gravel and debris on the inner curve.

Walking along the dense scrub along the bank we heard the

twitter of small birds and even managed to see some in the

gloom. Here a Grey Fantail sat momentarily still

and a hen Wren too.

Another bright butterfly bumbled along on a sunny patch:

Stewart M's identification, a Yellow Admiral.

Thanks again Stewart for coming to my rescue!

as emerald green mosses glowed among the pine needles

in the old forest.

The Prof, having safely negotiated this small swimming pool,

is dwarfed by the forest.

I scrambled through the bushes and was rewarded by a little

bit of lost history as I came upon these old posts, and there

were many more, driven into the river-bed. It looked like a

long forgotten mooring and landing place for river traffic.

Onward, ever onward. By this time we were far from our

starting point, getting tired and just a teensy bit crabby and

were cheered by this live bird-bridge across our path.

Some pine mushrooms, that someone had obviously enjoyed,

growing on an old stump

and a luminous patch of cow-parsley finely iced with dew,

a magnificent view of Mt.Buffalo

and the tiniest Oxalis I had ever seen, the flowers a bare 1/4",

taking me back again to fairyland.

A bare half mile and we were back at our home away from home.

They all enlarge it you have the time and patience. Sorry this was

such a long post, you have no idea how many pictures I DIDN'T

show you.

Do join in this great meme that lets us all see what is happening

elsewhere in the world. Just click on the MY WORLD logo in my

side bar and bingo! you can wander at will across the globe.

MY WORLD ~ Back to the Ranges

I know I have posted about this remarkable part of South

Australia before but this is an area I love so much that I

just could not help showing you a little more.

The Ranges are a National Heritage area, a National Park

where the 'dreamtime' sings to you and draws you into the

landscape. Painters are mesmerised by the beauty of the

light and intricacy of the rock formations and those who

seek solace for the sole just soak it up through every pore.

Hills photographed while driving by and as you snap, suddenly

you see a patch of brilliant colour.

Whether you have time or not, you stop and get out of your

car for a closer look. Snap a few dozen photos and turn back

to be faced with a flowering bush perhaps not quite as stunning

as the Sturt Desert Peas, but certainly a stunner in it's own right.

For the purists among the artist community there is gloriously

colourful ochre right on the roadside. One is not supposed to

plunder this riches but how can one resist when it is washing

away before your eyes.

Red ochre above and yellow below. There was white, deep

yellow and orange to be found here and there as well.

Changing light and little birds capture you attention

and the ever present red soil one can just never get enough of.

Beat this for a colour contrast!

All photos enlarge if you want to be sucked into the magic.

Enlarge at least the first one to see the folding of the mountainsides.

Thanks as always to the MY WORLD Team for hosting this meme.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Pink Surprises

Ah, what it is to have two large gardens and not be able to keep
them up anymore . . . and yet, and yet, they keep rewarding me.
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Above, a treasure from our garden on the mountain and below,

a present on the farm. Almost at the end of our first month of

winter and still they flower....

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The Logo opens the door to flowers all over the world. Click to

join or just enjoy.

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Thanks to Luiz Santilli Jr. for instigating this beautiful meme and

his great team who keep it running so smoothly.