Sunday, May 16, 2010

Early Morning Light

I am lucky to have friends who share with me the beautiful places they find. (Thanks Sarah!) They had found a series of small streams and waterholes that looked especially beautiful in the early morning light so the other day I set off to have a look as well. It was only just after sunrise when we set off and everything was damp with a heavy dew. (click on images to enlarge them)We started off through an area of tall trees but very soon came to more typical wallum country. Wikipedia describes wallum as "an Australian ecosystem of coastal south-east Queensland, extending into north-eastern New South Wales. It is characterised by floristically-rich shrubland and heathland on deep, nutrient-poor acidic sandy soils and regular wildfire. Seasonal changes in the water-table due to rainfall may create swamps. The name is derived from the Kabi word for the Wallum Banksia (Banksia aemula)."
I could hear birds calling from all the taller trees and shrubs but as the track mostly went through more open country I saw very few close enough to photograph. I could hear wrens in lots of places and eventually some Red-backed Fairy-Wrens came close enough to the track for me to get photos. The female came in close and posed very nicely. The male stayed back in behind the branches and flew off quickly. Later on a couple of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos flew high overhead giving their usual noisy cries.Because of all the rain we have recently had there was water lying everywhere. This made crossing even small streams quite interesting! In some places ankle deep water was extremely close to holes more than a meter deep and it was very easy to put a foot in the wrong place! In the early morning light even the smaller waterholes reflected back the blue sky and the bushes hanging over them.After about a kilometer and a half we reached a bigger stream with larger pools of water. The reflections here were definitely worth walking in to see.There were numbers of wildflowers in bloom already. I hope to go back in another couple of weeks to see what else is in flower as this is still very early in the flowering season. Even when we were walking out the dew was still heavy on the flowers. These two little beauties caught my attention. I have no idea of the name of the plant but the dew on each tiny flower made them look like little strings of glittering jewels. I have just been told that these are 'sundews' - a carnivorous plant - and they have sticky droplets on the end to catch insects! For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

23 comments:

  1. Beautiful spot!

    Those plants at the end are Sundews (Drosera sp). They are carnivorous plants. Little insects get caught in the sticky droplets.

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  2. Thanks Mosura, I am sure that there was some water droplets as well - maybe they made the sticky droplets even bigger.

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  3. Beautiful photos love the Sundews.

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  4. Thanks Neil, maybe another walk we should all do together?

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  5. Red-backed fairy wren is very cute! The sundews very impressive! I knew there were carnivorous plants but had never seen one before. The reflections are fabulous!

    Have a delightful Sunday, ciao! :-)

    http://modaninkuslari.blogspot.com

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  6. Thanks Muge, it was a very beautiful place for a walk.

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  7. What an interesting (and a bit dangerous even) walk you had! It's nice to see the blue skies reflected even in the tiny streams. The fairy-wrens were a definite bonus!

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  8. Hi Bob, It was an interesting walk but not one I would want to do all by myself. The little wrens are always great to see.

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  9. Great shots of a very beautiful place Mick. The sexual dimorphism in the Red-backed Fairy Wren is incredible. When looking at the female, I was wondering why it got its name, but seeing the male, it is obvious.

    Are their any poisonous critters in the wallum?

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  10. The reflections here were definitely worth walking in to see.

    YES very good I did look at it lage lake it, MB

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  11. Hi Larry, Since there are always more females and juveniles in a group than males it's special to see their beautiful bright colors. re poisonous critters - there are ALWAYS snakes around somewhere here in Australia - but I seldom see them!

    Hi Maria, glad you liked the reflections.

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  12. Looks like a great day and spot for birding! Beautiful photos

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  13. ...interesting post. Loved reading about the landscape--so different from ours. Love the photo of the female fairy wren. She's as cute as can be.

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  14. Looks like excellent habitat for all kinds of birds.

    Excellent photo series Mick!

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  15. Thanks Kelly and BirdingMaine

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  16. G'day Mick,
    Nice spot - careful, you might become a 'bushie'. I'll know when you have been converted when you report that you chased down that Red-backed Wren for an hour or more to get a good view/shot!
    Regards,
    Gouldiae.

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  17. Hi Gouldiae, the scrub there is very thick - and I know of other places to find the RB Wrens where it is much easier going :-)

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  18. You have a beautiful piece of nature there.

    Those Wrens deserve their name. What gorgeous little Beauties :)!

    Thanks for showing me some green nature. I admit, I miss it dearly!

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  19. Hi Nicole, glad you liked it all. At present it all looks very green because we have had a lot of rain - but most of the time it is goldy/brown and a dusty looking green.

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  20. Grin, enjoy it as long as you can then :D

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  21. sounds like a great adventure. Wet, but pleasing. :)

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