Voting day

It was supposed to be a clever decision. Handing in my vote at a pre-polling location was supposed to make a useless exercise short and painless. It was neither short nor painless but a test of endurance and tolerance. The crowd was amazing and peaceful. They would accept with a well-trained stoicism that - like in traffic - some citizens would not bother to stand in line but find ways to make their ways to the front and be proud of it. And if I needed a reminder for the very reason why I was waiting for half an hour in the queue the T-shirt of a random guy in front of me made sure I would not forget...

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Gold Coast bridge impressions

The Gold Coast is an amazing place. Seriously. But it is not easy to understand the political culture in Southeast Queensland. There were plans to build a cruise ship terminal and a casino. Immediately, there was instant outcry from the public. For a few years, scuba divers have heard that there are plans to build a few official entries and exit spots. Frankly, I never thought that somebody would go through with this plan and actually do something for - rather than against - scuba divers.

A short while ago, I had to smile. Something had been done to my dive site. But it was highly amusing to see what construction had been erected. It is easy to tell that the only goal was to do nothing but support the local business with public money. You get the impression that the new Seaway entry (which is the old one) is inspired by the sand pipe at the beach. It has to be highly visible. But contrary to the sand pipe it is just hard to see any purpose of the new stairs.

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Beautiful beaches full of dogs, dog poo, spearkillers and jet racers.

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Impressive concrete construction. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with an instruction manual. Is it for bikes to be tied down? No, of course, it is for the messy scuba divers that come in groups, that are too frail or inexperienced to prepare and do the pre-dive check by themselves. It was good to sacrifice four parking lots for that concrete area. That will be the preaching ground and marking territory of the Seaway hero divers, of hordes of new scuba pupils who will be happy to sniff some effluent Seaway water. Where is the shower? Where is the shade? Where is the dive flag? Anyway, maybe this is just modern art. Maybe this is the ticket area for the new cruise ship terminal!? Why would any diver use this space? Or is it for skate boarders? Oh, yes, it is easier for scuba divers to have a concrete block to sit on, a simulated dive boat, uncomfortable. But it helps muscle memory and your back muscles. So: thank you for that.

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This picture illustrates that bridge construction has reached epidemic dimensions at the Gold Coast. This is the stair bridge to the concrete platform that always served armies of scuba divers, snorkelers, surfers, fishermen, spearkillers and tourists to enter and exit the Seaway. It can be quite busy on a weekend. Anyone who wants to know who built this engineering masterpiece can check the plaque between the fastening bolts. Isn't it ingenious that they managed to build three steps up. Surely, this is for when climate change raises sea levels.

You would assume that these steps have a reason or at least a justification. I am not an engineer. I would just have built a level platform out, the beam embedded in or bolted right onto the concrete. That would have been easily possible by grinding only one single boulder about 3 cm. But physics tells that welted angles not only look good they are also statically more reliable than right angles. Are they?

And scuba divers again, would loose out without those steps. Nobody could sit on them and block the stairs for everybody else. Nobody would do that in Australia because we are a considerate people. The steps also help scuba divers to train their muscles. The average scuba diver has about 15 kg of weight on their backs. Some, depending on their extra floatation upholster from too many BBQs, carry insane amounts of lead around their waists. Actually, you loose all sense of weight under water. So, it is good to experience it on land and make that unique zero weigh feeling even more special.

Finally, those underwater people don't have to navigate their land weight between boulders on a narrow but safe and moderately sloping path any more. They can climb up! Well, that offers better view of what they can expect further down. After a short recovery on the beautiful and long platform they can climb the three steps down on the sea side until they are as far as they had started. The beautifully constructed stairs with hand rails continue for a bit. Down it goes for a few metres. Finally, when you have made it to the concrete platform you notice something really exciting:

The stairs have not solved the big problem of scuba divers at all. There are no stairs that reach down to the water and it is as tricky as before to enter and exit the Seaway at that spot with scuba gear and cameras. The main thing is that taxpayers have paid for a new bridge that makes Australian politicians proud. It only took a couple of years to get that project going and the results can measure up with politics on a national level. Frankly, this is hilarious if it was just not so sad and embarrassing. It does not affect me at all, but please stop doing something for scuba divers and scuba tourism at the Gold Coast.

But finally, the Gold Coast has what I call a 'Mini Cruise ship terminal'. Congratulations!

Assassin bug III

These are two photographs I am very happy about. Once more, it is showing an assassin bug. But look closely: this individual looks totally different than the previous ones (Animal portrait, January, 8 and Assassin bug II, January 27). The short wing stubs have grown into long wings. The beautiful yellow body has turned darker.

Is it possible that this is the same individual that I found two days prior to this one at the same spot in our passionfruit/vine trellis? Even the tentacles have a different colour. I assume this is a later instar and probably the end stage of the assassin bug.

This bug can obviously see quite well. And it doesn't like my flash. Through the thick leaf cover it was hard to get a good macro shot while it kept crawling away. And quite frankly, knowing about the pain, this animal's bite can cause, didn't exactly help my photographic efforts. Only later, I spotted that this assassin bug was probably on a hunt when I came and disturbed it. There was a well-camouflaged, motionless grasshopper nearby whose life I probably saved.

It is just great knowing that in our garden there seems to be a natural balance and that some pests have attracted their predators. We have got lots of butterflies too, a gardener's nightmare when they are caterpillars. Surely, the assassin bug helps to keep that population in check too.

When the assassin bug crawled further away from the lens and deep into the leaves, I was tempted to call it a day. Instead I pre-focussed on a leaf that the bug might eventually crawl back out onto. And yes, it gave me the shot that I was desperately hoping for: a side shot clearly showing the whole proboscis. It is the mouth piece that it uses as a weapon to inject the flesh eating liquid and to suck out its prey.

This may be the last series of assassin bug photos for a long time from me. It can only get better if I manage to photograph one that is feeding. But frankly, not exactly being a bug person, I am happy with what I have managed to document.

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Turtle carcass (graphic content)

On Australia day we found this carcass of a sea turtle washed up on the beach. It is so sad to see.

I took the effort to google where the public was supposed to report such a find. The University of Queensland marine research station, so I read, are doing research on the cause of turtle deaths in this area.

They answered my email quite quickly and let me know that they are ill equipped for handling such matters and that I should contact the following organisations:

If dead - Qld Parks and Wildlife hotline on 1300 130 372

If alive - direct them to the RSPCA wildlife hotline 1800 ANIMAL (1300 264 625)

With a 15 minute call I could not get through to anybody from the QLD Parks and Wildlife hotline. But at least I now know that I should hang up and call 000 if I have a life threatening injury. Thanks for that. Hmmm...what number shall I call if a mosquito bites me? I thought that's exactly when I call QLD Parks and Wildlife, type 6 to make a reservation for camping in Southeast Queensland. What if I would like to go camping on the moon? I am disappointed not to get any help from the automated system from QLD Parks and Wildlife, not even how to report the carcass of a washed up sea turtle. Anyway, that was a bit sarcastic. I know they are all doing a good job. But frankly, I will never ever consider it my job again to report anything to the organisations that are or should be in charge.

Maybe it is better to involve the press. And maybe, miraculously, all of a sudden there will be some interest from people that claim to have some authority in this field.

In times of elections, it could be an experiment to contact some local politicians and get their views and let the story be used for their agendas. What does for instance a Green candidate having his official address in Windsor (which is far, far away despite a ridiculously localised voting system) got to say about it?

Maybe it is great for people to see sea turtle carcasses in Wynnum all the time. This is about the fourth individual but it is also the biggest that we have ever seen. I am (or actually were) glad that we have so many of them that we can easily afford to loose a few of them. Do we need to know if it was a floating turtle so we can ban plastic bags (instead of prosecute any littering)? Do we really want to know that this mature turtle was hit by a boat, a jet ski or some other racing device that rockets through the sea and caused this blunt force trauma to the right front part of the animal? The barnacles mainly on the right side indicate that this turtle died a slow death and spent some time in shallow water trying to recover from an impact. Maybe the cause of death was both, plastic bag and senseless boat driving. But for both cases politics and police don't have appropriate or sensible answers anyway.

So, I think it is good to hear that marine research stations are not wasting their time and funding on turtle deaths and that Wildlife is making sure we can book expensive camp grounds on Straddie (may I suggest that they organise the expensive boat ferries too) and stop reporting deceased animals that pose a health and safety hazard in populated areas. Everybody - just deal with it! Just use some common sense and realise that you should not touch it or go too close. Finally, accept or learn that dying is part of nature and that good will come out of it.

Please do apologise for the graphic content. Don't look if you are sensitive to ugly pictures.

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Royal spoonbill

Quite a few breeding Royal spoonbills around.

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Assassin Bug II

Found this bug again in our garden and could not resist taking photos. It might be a later instar to the individual shown in Animal portrait, posted January 8 on this blog.

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Duckling tryptich

Synchronized duckling family

Superb Fairy-Wren

Another set of superb Fairy-Wrens.

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 With picture 1 and 2 I tried to showcase a symmetry that I observed. Both pictures were taken within a minute from each other. The birds seem mirroring and mimicking each other's poses on a grass haulm, calling each other. Picture 2 is unedited and with picture 1 I tried to get the same colour tones.

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 The picture is totally unedited. Apart from the bird I like the colours and lines, the grass and other growth that show the animal in its natural environment.

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 This picture is cropped to the left. When I composed I wanted to separate the two males. But I think it is kind of cute that the female is calling them over. Just making clear that I am not aspiring for the Guinness Book of World Records in how many individuals of a species or other taxonomic group can fit into a single photo frame.

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It looks like the female has made her choice and looks like she is happily flirting with her new boy-friend.

Common Moorhen

Have a look at the beautifully high nest of this Common Moorhen. It looks like a safe place. The mother was breeding already. She was defending her home against other ducks and looks a bit excited. Unfortunately, the breeding was no success. We had massive rains shortly after this picture was taken. The next day the nest was totally gone, not even a hint of it remaining after the flooding. But I think it keeps going as I observed a similar looking individual being busy building another nest a bit further back. It might be a less exposed place too. So, let's wish it luck.

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P.S. We had returned to this place to make sure the Little Pied Cormorant (see yesterday's post) was ok or to see if it would make sense to call-in animal rescue. I took lots of photos of all the cormorants around but they were all free of fishing line. So, the cormorant we had observed is either free of fishing line or has moved on somewhere else. But we are glad that at least we checked.

Little Pied Cormorant

There is a special reason to post this animal that I photographed yesterday. It changed the plans on how I am spending the day today. I need to go back to the place where we saw it. Can you see why? You might need to enlarge and search the photo a bit.

When trying to fly away from this bush, this bird got entangled. Our hearts almost stopped when the bird fell tangled head down on those twigs, looking like a rainforest animal poached with a foot sling. Decency forbid to take more pictures. But looking back this was a mistake. The cormorant managed to free itself within half a minute, swam in the pond to regain composure for a bit and then flew away. If you look carefully you can see the fishing hook and line in the two pictures.

We might go back to this place to find out if the bird is still ok and make sure that this fishing line is not doing more harm to any animal out there. If there is no fishing tackle in the tree any more, that probably means that it is attached to the cormorant.

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Fishing hook is clearly visible near the tail.

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When taking the picture I didn't notice the big lure that you can see at its base of the tail on the left.

More twiggy

Some animals show up at the wrong time. This was supposed to be a rest from the roo photo shooting. This guy was occupying the bench in front of the table where a yummy BBQ was being served. I could not be bothered to change over my lens while the animal was slowly moving away. Its movements are quite fascinating. The stick insect is wiggling its horizontal body back and forth and occasionally moving a leg forward.

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Australian landscape

Enjoying myself some more with landscape.

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Spiders and Gum trees

The perception of Australia abroad is that there are venomous spiders and snakes around every corner. Glad to support this misconception here.

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Spider at sunset

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Gum tree meadow

 Almost got the style of landscape pictures that I like here.

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The same picture for the b/w lovers.

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Close up Osprey

Here is more of my photo shoot with the Osprey. It was about lunch time, the sun high up. I approached this fellow really slowly and with lots of breaks, taking hundreds of shots and getting a sunburn while doing so. Most pictures are full frame on my Canon 7D with my 100-400mm fully extended. I did only minimal editing. I estimate that I ended up about 7 to 10 metres away from the Osprey. For me, these are the best results that I can get with my set-up and without 'adobing'. If anyone has any ideas where the massive noise in the uncropped photos comes from, please let me know. Surely, the light was not ideal but that should not explain these results. Most shots are taken on ISO 400.

Shortly after I shot this series, I read a review of the Tamron 150-600mm f/5-f/6.3 DiVC USD lens on sumeetmoghe.com. Frankly, I have no idea how this guy can get such crisp photos, let alone how he can shoot at such amazingly low shutter speeds.

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 Actually, this is a bigger crop of the Osprey watching me. Just for the sake of giving the theme here.

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Shot taken a bit further away. Just slightly rotated into a full horizontal (1 degree) trying to keep the blurred Oystercatcher in the background. It was unclear to me why this Osprey stayed in the full sun in the flats. It didn't look as if it was targeting wading birds. Also passing birds were ignored. And it didn't seem to mind me at all, doing what it was doing, mostly ignoring me.

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The Osprey did a few yoga exercises occasionally. Just reminds me of an ice skater. Maybe it was just trying to get its head into its own shadow and shade.

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 This picture is slightly cropped because the eyes came out quite clear in this shot. Maybe the full frame is better composed though. It was my goal to get a portrait but with a bit of interesting background and a bit of an unusual pose. Got to love the feather hanging down. That was actually a mock start pose. The lift off happened after it relaxed for a second or two.

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 It is always fascinating that no matter how focussed and prepared you are that you can still miss the moment and make a handling mistake. I didn't cut off the top of the wings on purpose. Actually, I had a bit of room at the bottom where I cropped a tiny bit of muddy blurred ground and off-centring the bird a bit too. The lift off just happened too fast. Also, there are interesting flares to be discovered in the water which I think are glass related. So seems the omnipresent red tinge. Maybe I should experiment with a polarising filter one day.

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 I love the shadow and the claws in this shot.

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 Again, shadow, claws and beak with the nasty feather.

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Uncropped, might gain from it though as I don't like the Osprey to be centred. But to me, the picture lives from the brown ground and the legs still hanging down.

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And here the Osprey is leaving my frame and keeps the Moreton Island sand dunes behind it too.

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Bye bye, see you next time around sunrise or sunset time.

Wallabies

Taking photos of wallabies was fun. It is not that easy to find an expression that I liked and compose the frame so I didn't have to crop the picture. Used to taking pictures of animals that look into the camera, I realised only later that I had applied this rule of thumb too rigidly. I actually prefer photos where the animals concentrate on something else but the camera.

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It was one of my challenges to get a decent picture of the wallabies hopping around. The animals were just grazing most of the time, so there was little opportunity.

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It was a pleasure to witness this mother and joey. Here it had left the pouch and was suckling for quite some time. I assume it is not necessary to exit the pouch for that but here it did. I had never seen a pouch opening that big and open. Towards the end, the mother helped clean up the milk spill, the joey went back in and they hopped a bit further. With the size of this joey, and the mother happily jumping around with it, I am wondering how this is anatomically possible. How come the pouch does not stretch or tear? Why does the weight not off-balance the mother's jumping? Also, the joey's position looks so uncomfortable with the head, front and hind legs near the opening.

Eastern Osprey

On the way home from the marina, I simply had to stop for this Eastern Osprey.

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Moreton Bay Osprey

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Osprey exploring the sea