Below are a few Bundanoon bird sightings worth noting (in reverse chronological order) from this year. Rainbow Lorikeets were around a lot more than in past years. Gang-gangs Cockatoos and Wedge-tailed Eagles turned up regularly. A Weebill was a great record. Repeat visits to the swamp by Ferndale Reserve proved fruitful (I was doing this mainly for writing purposes; I recently entered the Voiceless Writing Prize with a long essay on Bundanoon)... a Latham's Snipe turned up on one occasion. Unfortunately, the Crescent Honeyeaters I heard near Bonnie View in Nov/Dec 2011, were not heard again. So, have a read below - it's a bit repetitive! I've now found 135 species in Bundanoon.
6.4.12
Home - waves of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters heading north, 1 Gang-gang Cockatoo
Oval area - 2 Peregrine Falcons (high up)
Ferndale Swamp - 1 White-eared Honeyeater (heard)
Old Wingello Rd - 1 White-throated Treecreeper (scaling a telegraph pole: an amusing first for me: I guess it's just another tree to a WTT)
2.4.12
Bonnie View - 1 White-eared Honeyeater heard calling on escarpment to east (first time I've heard one here), Pilotbird (heard)
Beauchamp Cliffs - 1 Superb Lyrebird
Home - 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles, 1 Lewin's Honeyeater, an Eastern Yellow Robin (heard nearby; closest to home it's ever been)
26.3.12
Home - 1 Rainbow Lorikeet
25.3.12
Ferndale Swamp - 1 White-eared Honeyeater (back, after months away; there must be some altitudinal dispersal with the local birds), 1 Azure Kingfisher (!), many Grey Fantails, 1 White-throated Gerygone (sticking around?), Grey Shrike-thrushes (bathing and eating worms on the ground)
24.3.12
Home - 6 Varied Sittellas flying over (a rarity), 7 Yellow-rumped Thornbills flying over (unusual), Lewin's Honeyeater (first time in the backyard)
Penrose Rd - 4 Gang-gang Cockatoos (always good to see these beauties)
Ellsmore Rd - 1 Wedge-tailed Eagle (low, heading west, over paddocks)
23.2.12
The Gullies Rd - 1 Rufous Fantail (such active things; that rufous is so striking), 6 Grey Fantails
21.3.12.
Bonnie View - 2 Chestnut-rumped Heathwrens (I prefer the name Hylacola, really; these birds are notoriously difficult to see; my view of one was fleeting; the other was heard making a scrubwren-like trill), 10 White-throated Needletails (arcing high over southern gullies), Pilotbird (heard, I've not seen one yet in Bundy), Superb Lyrebird (heard)
15.3.12
Home - 7 Gang-gang Cockatoos (a cracking number - one rarely sees this no. together)
11.3.12
Home - 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles, a few Rainbow Lorikeets
10.3.12
Ferndale swamp/Bundanoon Sewage Works - 2 Gang-gang Cockatoos, 1 juv. Azure Kingfisher (!), circa 9 Black-fronted Dotterels (the most I've ever seen together, anywhere), 2 Buff-rumped Thornbills (seen now and again), many Red-browed Finches (inc. immatures), 5 Yellow-rumped Thornbills
27.2.12
Home - 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles
24.2.12
Home - 1 Gang-gang Cockatoo (heard)
11.2.12
Ferndale swamp - 1 Weebill seen in the scribbly gum mid-storey on outskirts of oval (Australia's smallest bird; my first Weebill in the Southern Highlands!), 3 Dollarbirds, 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles, Yellow-faced Honeyeaters
4.2.12
Home - 4 Little Ravens (a lot) and 2 Australian Ravens
Ferndale swamp - 1 Australian Reed-warbler, 1 Dollarbird
Quarry Rd - 1 Dollarbird in a paddock
Birchwood Rd - 1 Wedge-tailed Eagle
28.1.12
Home - 2 Gang-gang Cockatoos
26.1.12
Echo Point - 1 Gang-gang Cockatoo (heard), 2 Superb Lyrebirds (heard)
Anzac Parade - 1 Rainbow Lorikeet
Home - 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles
24.1.12
Bundanoon Club - 2 Rainbow Lorikeets
23.1.12
Home - 1 Rainbow Lorikeet
21.1.12
Home - 3 Gang-gang Cockatoos
20.1.12
Bundanoon Pool - 2 Gang-gang Cockatoos
19.1.12
Ferndale swamp/sewage works - 1 female Australasian Shoveler (on swamp water), 1 Dollarbird, 1 European Goldfinch (on ground, sipping water from a puddle; these are seen infrequently)
17.1.12
Ferndale swamp - 4 Dollarbirds (2 of which were dipping momentarily into water), White-necked Heron (sunbathing, with open wings), 1 White-throated Gerygone, a few Dusky Woodswallows, 1 Olive-backed Oriole, Tree Martins, c.20 White-throated Needletails, 2 Leaden Flycatchers, Sacred Kingfishers
16.1.12
Ferndale swamp - 2 Red-browed Treecreepers (the first time I've seen them there), 1 White-throated Gerygone, male Leaden Flycatcher (!)
15.1.12
Ferndale swamp - 1 Latham's Snipe (tremendous stuff: my first record for Bundy: it would've recently flown in from Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan), 1 Leaden Flycatcher, 4 Dollarbirds
Blue Gum Rd - 2 Dollarbirds
7.1.12
Home - 2 Gang-gang Cockatoos
8.1.12
Ferndale swamp/sewage works - I think I MIGHT have seen a Baillon's Creek disappearing into reeds, but I wasn't sure; Dusky Woodswallows, White-necked Heron, 3 Hardhead (unusual)
6.1.12
Grey Gum Lane area - 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles, hunting, falling into stoops
4.1.12
Morton NP (near Gambells Rest) - 1 Australian Owlet-nightjar (heard)
1.1.12
Home - 2 Rainbow Lorikeets
LJ, April 6 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
HOODED ROBINS IN PENROSE
Well done to avid Bundy birder John Shepherd who found a pair of Hooded Robins near Stingray Swamp at Penrose on Saturday morning. I've got to follow this up. I've not seen a Hooded Robin for about fifteen years. The males are stunning, even though they're pied and dumpy. HRs are listed as 'vulnerable' in NSW by DEC. John's record is the most easterly record I'm aware of. HRs are mostly found west of the Great Dividing Range (and irregularly). Between John and his wife Jenny, the robins of the Southern Highlands are covered!
LJ, March 19 2012.
LJ, March 19 2012.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
SOME BLOKES, A BROOM AND A COPPERHEAD
I meant to put this in my previous post. Really, it warrants its own post.
Some time in mid-January, my boy and I were out walking our cocker spaniel. We came to the pub. A drinker, standing in the front beer garden stated flatly, 'Watch out for the brown snake'. Indeed, a brownish snake was moving lethargically along the pavement by the wall that skirts the beer garden. I tied my dog to a railing and my son and I tentatively checked out the snake, which was about fifty centimetres long. Soon, walkers and drinkers alike were all out looking at it.
Consensus had the snake as a Highlands Copperhead, not an Eastern Brown Snake. The serpent got itself into a gutter. One drinker suggested he jump in his Toyota and run the snake over, adding that misguided cliche, 'The only good snake is a dead snake'. One bloke turned up with a broom and approached the snake. I asked him not to kill the thing. A passing 4WD was stopped, so the driver wouldn't crush the Copperhead. The broom-man brushed the snake away, so it slithered sluggishly across the road and retreated into the bushes by the railway station.
This was the fist living Highlands Copperhead I'd seen. My brother-in-law over in Bowral has had to kill a couple as he has many kids to think about. I've seen their cool bodies slung over barbed wire fences.
Herpetologist, Harold Cogger, states, in one of his textbooks, that Exeter is the Copperhead capital of NSW (I saw one there the other day - eastern side of railway line). I guess Bundy would be the other capital.
LJ, March 6 2012.
Some time in mid-January, my boy and I were out walking our cocker spaniel. We came to the pub. A drinker, standing in the front beer garden stated flatly, 'Watch out for the brown snake'. Indeed, a brownish snake was moving lethargically along the pavement by the wall that skirts the beer garden. I tied my dog to a railing and my son and I tentatively checked out the snake, which was about fifty centimetres long. Soon, walkers and drinkers alike were all out looking at it.
Consensus had the snake as a Highlands Copperhead, not an Eastern Brown Snake. The serpent got itself into a gutter. One drinker suggested he jump in his Toyota and run the snake over, adding that misguided cliche, 'The only good snake is a dead snake'. One bloke turned up with a broom and approached the snake. I asked him not to kill the thing. A passing 4WD was stopped, so the driver wouldn't crush the Copperhead. The broom-man brushed the snake away, so it slithered sluggishly across the road and retreated into the bushes by the railway station.
This was the fist living Highlands Copperhead I'd seen. My brother-in-law over in Bowral has had to kill a couple as he has many kids to think about. I've seen their cool bodies slung over barbed wire fences.
Herpetologist, Harold Cogger, states, in one of his textbooks, that Exeter is the Copperhead capital of NSW (I saw one there the other day - eastern side of railway line). I guess Bundy would be the other capital.
LJ, March 6 2012.
Monday, March 5, 2012
A FEW THINGS
My Lord, is that actually sunshine I see out there? Let's hope it lasts more than a few hours and we can hang on to what remains of this peculiar, mercurial summer.
Local birder, Jenny Shepherd, claimed to have seen a female Pink Robin foraging in her backyard close to two weeks ago. The tan arrowhead markings in the secondaries convinced her of this. She was sure it wasn't a juvenile whistler or female Scarlet or Flame Robin. If she is right, then this is an tremendous record, as the Southern Highlands is pretty much the northern limit of the bird's range (though one PR was seen in north-west Sydney in the 90s). There was a female in the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra, during May 2011. I've never seen a Pink Robin. I wish I'd been with Jenny when she saw it.
Most of our migratory birds have vanished. I haven't heard a Common Koel (I had an immature at home for quite a while), a Shining Bronze-cuckoo or a Black-faced Monarch, for weeks. Our Channel-billed Cuckoos usually depart late December. Dollarbirds are still around - there was one bird perched on power lines along Birchwood Drive yesterday. I guess he or she will take to the air and push north very soon.
I had the pleasure, a few weeks back now, of watching a pair of Dollarbirds hawking over my yard before nightfall. This went on for about thirty minutes. At one stage, one of the birds was only about fifteen feet above my head. Neither bird made any noise when foraging. Sometimes, they dissected the full moon.
Not long ago, I happened to see, with the aid of a torch, a trapdoor in its front garden burrow consuming a centipede. It took a while to eat it. This trapdoor didn't have any 'trap door' at the entrance to its home.
I'm eager to tramp down to Erith Coal Mine in the next couple of days so as to see how much water is powering over the scarp there.
The freetail bat is still living in the pergola. My son and I saw it arrive home this morning at 6:25am.
There are so many slugs and snails about at the moment. It's a little off-putting. My wife trod on a leopard slug (?) the night before last... the creature's ooze stuck to the sole of her boot. I tried to scrape the ooze off her boot to no avail.
You probably didn't need to read that last bit. Who really cares about slugs and their slime? My apologies.
LJ, March 5 2012.
Local birder, Jenny Shepherd, claimed to have seen a female Pink Robin foraging in her backyard close to two weeks ago. The tan arrowhead markings in the secondaries convinced her of this. She was sure it wasn't a juvenile whistler or female Scarlet or Flame Robin. If she is right, then this is an tremendous record, as the Southern Highlands is pretty much the northern limit of the bird's range (though one PR was seen in north-west Sydney in the 90s). There was a female in the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra, during May 2011. I've never seen a Pink Robin. I wish I'd been with Jenny when she saw it.
Most of our migratory birds have vanished. I haven't heard a Common Koel (I had an immature at home for quite a while), a Shining Bronze-cuckoo or a Black-faced Monarch, for weeks. Our Channel-billed Cuckoos usually depart late December. Dollarbirds are still around - there was one bird perched on power lines along Birchwood Drive yesterday. I guess he or she will take to the air and push north very soon.
I had the pleasure, a few weeks back now, of watching a pair of Dollarbirds hawking over my yard before nightfall. This went on for about thirty minutes. At one stage, one of the birds was only about fifteen feet above my head. Neither bird made any noise when foraging. Sometimes, they dissected the full moon.
Not long ago, I happened to see, with the aid of a torch, a trapdoor in its front garden burrow consuming a centipede. It took a while to eat it. This trapdoor didn't have any 'trap door' at the entrance to its home.
I'm eager to tramp down to Erith Coal Mine in the next couple of days so as to see how much water is powering over the scarp there.
The freetail bat is still living in the pergola. My son and I saw it arrive home this morning at 6:25am.
There are so many slugs and snails about at the moment. It's a little off-putting. My wife trod on a leopard slug (?) the night before last... the creature's ooze stuck to the sole of her boot. I tried to scrape the ooze off her boot to no avail.
You probably didn't need to read that last bit. Who really cares about slugs and their slime? My apologies.
LJ, March 5 2012.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
WSFB?
I'm no microbat expert, but I reckon I've got a White-striped Freetail Bat roosting in the ridge of my pergola (I'm basing this opinion on the mammal's size). Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to see the bat return to one end of the ridge (which was about ten feet away from me), after a couple of flybys. This was at ten past six in the morning. Last night, I waited for the bat to reemerge, to take on the impending darkness. It did, ears first, then hid. Two minutes later, the ears appeared again. The bat then dropped headfirst from its hiding spot, in one easy movement, and flew away, over the roof of my house, to hunt. I've seen a few small bats in Bundy before, but never at this close range.
LJ, February 16 2012.
LJ, February 16 2012.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
A VERY BRIEF GUIDE TO BIRDING (FOR BEGINNERS)
Here are some tips (from twenty-five or so years of experience) for novices on how to be a better birder...
I'm not a twitcher (that obsessive birder who jumps on a plane as soon as, say, a Grey Nightjar or House Swift turns up at the limits of Australia's territories, then busts a gut hoping to 'tick' it), but I'm a keen birder who spends every hour of every day with part of him in tune with what our birds are up to. So, here are some things to contemplate when in the field (from an east coast of Australia perspective).
1. Listen, listen, listen. Most of birding is actually being alert to the various calls birds make. Familiarise yourself with a Noisy Miner's repertoire. NMs are particularly adept at emitting loud, piping, high-pitched raptor warning calls. This alarm call has helped me spot many birds of prey over the years: Pacific Bazas, Grey Goshawks, Collared Sparrowhawks, Australian Hobbies, Peregrine Falcons etc. They also make a different, more drawn out (read whiney) call which tells you there's a perched predatory bird close by (good for finding Boobook Owls). Birds make a racket for a reason, often. If cockatoos, currawongs and magpies are all carrying on, I'd bet a raptor is responsible. Try to understand the language of birds as much as you can.
2. Buy every Australian bird field guide on the market. Make sure you purchase the latest editions. They all have their benefits; they are not exactly the same. I love Pizzey & Knight for the textual detail, Simpson & Day for the clear illustrations, Slater for the info on vagrant birds, Morecombe for close detail on distinctive plumage. Debus has two great guides out, one on birds of prey, the other, recently published, on owls and frogmouths.
3. Go birding at any time of the day, not just after dawn and before dusk. Go out in light rain and mist - many birds are still active then.
4. Revisit local spots. One or two visits will not give you a true indication of what birds frequent the area. A case in point is my local swamp. I've been there many, many times. Only recently did I see my first Latham's Snipe there (a summer migrant that's flown from Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan).
5. Buy binoculars that suit you. I've never bought expensive 'bins' in case I damage them. Know how to use them. Rely on the naked eye as much as possible, then lift the bins when a bird is in a particular position. Know how to quickly focus/adjust your bins. If you lose a bird in a tree, don't try to locate it again with your bins, use your naked eye.
6. Imitate calls. This works well for Powerful Owls! Whistlers, thornbills, flycatchers, pardalotes, scrubwrens, misteletoebirds etc. may come closer to you if you call them in.
7. Predict or read up on what birds are expected to be in a habitat before you visit it. This will avoid identification confusion in the field.
8. Do a hell of a lot of birding by yourself so you can immerse yourself in the world that surrounds you. Only then will you really understand what birds are doing, why they're acting the way they do, what calls they're making etc. Birding with others, though terrific, can be distracting (saying that, I've been guilty of being too loud/enthusiastic in groups before and had certain folks tssk tssk me!).
8. Look at everything around you when you're out and about - the sky might contain needletails/swifts or eagles, the understorey may produce logrunners or quails, there could be a flock of sitellas and monarchs in the midstorey, as well as thornbills and lorikeets in the canopy.
9. Visit the websites 'Eremaea' and 'Birds in Backyards' regularly. Document any interesting sightings on the birdlines Eremaea offers. BIB is a great sight for bird calls; I often use it when trying to distinguish certain honeyeater's calls.
10. You don't have to dress like a rebel or soldier when birding. I guess camouflaged clothing helps, but I've never been fussed. Wearing bright colours from head to toe may not work in the bush, but if you're looking at waders on a beach, a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper isn't going to care too much.
11. Have fun. Laugh a bit. Birding shouldn't be a serious business. Let's celebrate the exquisite bird life we have by our sides. Humour and enthusiasm can only draw more people in.
I hope this is beneficial. May your next bird be a lifer.
LJ, February 4 2012.
I'm not a twitcher (that obsessive birder who jumps on a plane as soon as, say, a Grey Nightjar or House Swift turns up at the limits of Australia's territories, then busts a gut hoping to 'tick' it), but I'm a keen birder who spends every hour of every day with part of him in tune with what our birds are up to. So, here are some things to contemplate when in the field (from an east coast of Australia perspective).
1. Listen, listen, listen. Most of birding is actually being alert to the various calls birds make. Familiarise yourself with a Noisy Miner's repertoire. NMs are particularly adept at emitting loud, piping, high-pitched raptor warning calls. This alarm call has helped me spot many birds of prey over the years: Pacific Bazas, Grey Goshawks, Collared Sparrowhawks, Australian Hobbies, Peregrine Falcons etc. They also make a different, more drawn out (read whiney) call which tells you there's a perched predatory bird close by (good for finding Boobook Owls). Birds make a racket for a reason, often. If cockatoos, currawongs and magpies are all carrying on, I'd bet a raptor is responsible. Try to understand the language of birds as much as you can.
2. Buy every Australian bird field guide on the market. Make sure you purchase the latest editions. They all have their benefits; they are not exactly the same. I love Pizzey & Knight for the textual detail, Simpson & Day for the clear illustrations, Slater for the info on vagrant birds, Morecombe for close detail on distinctive plumage. Debus has two great guides out, one on birds of prey, the other, recently published, on owls and frogmouths.
3. Go birding at any time of the day, not just after dawn and before dusk. Go out in light rain and mist - many birds are still active then.
4. Revisit local spots. One or two visits will not give you a true indication of what birds frequent the area. A case in point is my local swamp. I've been there many, many times. Only recently did I see my first Latham's Snipe there (a summer migrant that's flown from Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan).
5. Buy binoculars that suit you. I've never bought expensive 'bins' in case I damage them. Know how to use them. Rely on the naked eye as much as possible, then lift the bins when a bird is in a particular position. Know how to quickly focus/adjust your bins. If you lose a bird in a tree, don't try to locate it again with your bins, use your naked eye.
6. Imitate calls. This works well for Powerful Owls! Whistlers, thornbills, flycatchers, pardalotes, scrubwrens, misteletoebirds etc. may come closer to you if you call them in.
7. Predict or read up on what birds are expected to be in a habitat before you visit it. This will avoid identification confusion in the field.
8. Do a hell of a lot of birding by yourself so you can immerse yourself in the world that surrounds you. Only then will you really understand what birds are doing, why they're acting the way they do, what calls they're making etc. Birding with others, though terrific, can be distracting (saying that, I've been guilty of being too loud/enthusiastic in groups before and had certain folks tssk tssk me!).
8. Look at everything around you when you're out and about - the sky might contain needletails/swifts or eagles, the understorey may produce logrunners or quails, there could be a flock of sitellas and monarchs in the midstorey, as well as thornbills and lorikeets in the canopy.
9. Visit the websites 'Eremaea' and 'Birds in Backyards' regularly. Document any interesting sightings on the birdlines Eremaea offers. BIB is a great sight for bird calls; I often use it when trying to distinguish certain honeyeater's calls.
10. You don't have to dress like a rebel or soldier when birding. I guess camouflaged clothing helps, but I've never been fussed. Wearing bright colours from head to toe may not work in the bush, but if you're looking at waders on a beach, a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper isn't going to care too much.
11. Have fun. Laugh a bit. Birding shouldn't be a serious business. Let's celebrate the exquisite bird life we have by our sides. Humour and enthusiasm can only draw more people in.
I hope this is beneficial. May your next bird be a lifer.
LJ, February 4 2012.
Monday, January 16, 2012
AN INTERVIEW WITH PETER LACH-NEWINSKY
I thought I'd begin 2012 with something different - an interview with poet, activist, ecologist, Bundanoon local and mate, Peter Lach-Newinsky. Here Peter talks about many things including coal seam gas extraction, Peak Oil, the origins of apples, an out-of-control fire on his property and his dog, Billy.
What's kept you in Bundanoon for so long?
Bundanoon itself. Bundy is a biodiversity hotspot and still pleasant small village. Perhaps the question can also be read to imply moving often is a natural thing to do. It's not popular to say so but I think hyper-mobility and mass tourism will just be a historical blip due to the historically short era of cheap oil. Although I've had to move about a fair bit in my life, I don't like or believe in the wisdom of frequent moving. Too stressful for self and planet. Maybe it's time we all stuck around long enough somewhere to really care for it - ie. grow some roots in a place, know its ecology and culture intimately rather than just be temporary visitors passing through - 'permanent transients' in Edward Albee's phrase. Peak Oil will do that for us anyway.
A nature lover from overseas arrives on your property for the first time. What do you show them straight away and why?
First, the five over 200 year-old messmates for a sense of perspective. Then, for an even wider perspective, the 120 heirloom varieties of apple tree in the orchard, including the weird and tough-as-boots Court Pendu Plat brought to Northern Europe by the Romans. Because apple trees are propagated not from seed but by grafting, our tree will have come directly from that original Roman(?) tree from two thousand years ago, passed on like a flaming torch through the centuries by apple tree grafters and growers. This fact still amazes me.
Tell me something else I don't know about apples.
Wild apple forests originated five million years ago in the Tan Shan mountains on the borders of Kazakhstan and China, where they still exist. Each neighbouring tree a different variety. The sweetness we like about apples was first selected by our mammal cousins like bears and pigs. Then we added about 10,000 varieties over the centuries. Now, due to industrial food growing, we have very few left.
What creature living on your property appeals to you most and why?
Our border collie, Billy, because he has a large and gentle soul.
How does your property enhance your poetic voice?
Perhaps a poem written on site might be an answer to that question...
Summer Dam
The way reeds succumb to gravity's wind,
sky force propelling them water-wards,
soul-wards till all is grace & light
or a water lily open-handed
to the sun, flat paddle-leaved,
still as an emblem
over the brown murk of water
flicked, tensing like the dun ripple
on a stallion's silk rump
marsh frogs clicking their pebbles
of territorial air, a cabbage white
jinking & reeling low, drunk
with shimmer, two dragonflies
reed-locked & pumping
their violent U, distant screeching
cockatoos planning their next blitz
on wattle seeds, apples, equanimity,
nature romantic to the urban mind.
Has global warming affected your property in any way?
The effects of global warming are of course regional and becoming apparent over time. We are already experiencing decreased average rainfall, more and longer droughts, milder winters. All this impacts on our property in terms of planning for changes in water availability, soil moisture retention and growing different plant species and varieties more adapted to the changed conditions.
What's your position on coal seam gas/fracking (I think I can guess!)?
In my view it's a criminal, last ditch attempt by the energy corporations and governments to extract the harder-to-get fossil fuels that have now become more economically viable because of rising energy prices due to diminishing supplies in the age of Peak Oil. To poison or deplete aquifers, especially in the age of increasing water scarcity and thus food insecurity - both due to climate chaos - should be a capital crime.
What part of Morton National Park do you most love?
The walk to Erith Coal Mine for its rich and shifting biodiversity and altitudinal changes in vegetation and vibe. Good for the cardiovascular system.
Share with me a story from life on your property.
Mid-nineties, I was trying to reduce some blackberry patches by burning off. The fire became a grass fire that very quickly got out of control. There was no house on the property then. This was also before mobiles. I had to drive to a neighbour's to phone the bush fire brigade. When I drove back, I could see huge billowing clouds of smoke rising from our property and my heart sank through my boots as I thought that the fire might now have spread to the big trees and our neighbour's property. Luckily, it hadn't, although it had spread up the grass slope and was licking the big trees. After a long and nervous wait, the bush fire brigade finally arrived in totally laid-back fashion, and to my surprise considered it an insignificant kind of fire, even complimenting me on trying to burn off blackberry. They put it out in no time and even politely declined my offer of money or at least a couple of beers. Long live our bush fire fighters.
Will you stay in Bundanoon for many years to come?
If possible, I'd like to only leave this place inside a coffin.
LJ, January 16 2012.
What's kept you in Bundanoon for so long?
Bundanoon itself. Bundy is a biodiversity hotspot and still pleasant small village. Perhaps the question can also be read to imply moving often is a natural thing to do. It's not popular to say so but I think hyper-mobility and mass tourism will just be a historical blip due to the historically short era of cheap oil. Although I've had to move about a fair bit in my life, I don't like or believe in the wisdom of frequent moving. Too stressful for self and planet. Maybe it's time we all stuck around long enough somewhere to really care for it - ie. grow some roots in a place, know its ecology and culture intimately rather than just be temporary visitors passing through - 'permanent transients' in Edward Albee's phrase. Peak Oil will do that for us anyway.
A nature lover from overseas arrives on your property for the first time. What do you show them straight away and why?
First, the five over 200 year-old messmates for a sense of perspective. Then, for an even wider perspective, the 120 heirloom varieties of apple tree in the orchard, including the weird and tough-as-boots Court Pendu Plat brought to Northern Europe by the Romans. Because apple trees are propagated not from seed but by grafting, our tree will have come directly from that original Roman(?) tree from two thousand years ago, passed on like a flaming torch through the centuries by apple tree grafters and growers. This fact still amazes me.
Tell me something else I don't know about apples.
Wild apple forests originated five million years ago in the Tan Shan mountains on the borders of Kazakhstan and China, where they still exist. Each neighbouring tree a different variety. The sweetness we like about apples was first selected by our mammal cousins like bears and pigs. Then we added about 10,000 varieties over the centuries. Now, due to industrial food growing, we have very few left.
What creature living on your property appeals to you most and why?
Our border collie, Billy, because he has a large and gentle soul.
How does your property enhance your poetic voice?
Perhaps a poem written on site might be an answer to that question...
Summer Dam
The way reeds succumb to gravity's wind,
sky force propelling them water-wards,
soul-wards till all is grace & light
or a water lily open-handed
to the sun, flat paddle-leaved,
still as an emblem
over the brown murk of water
flicked, tensing like the dun ripple
on a stallion's silk rump
marsh frogs clicking their pebbles
of territorial air, a cabbage white
jinking & reeling low, drunk
with shimmer, two dragonflies
reed-locked & pumping
their violent U, distant screeching
cockatoos planning their next blitz
on wattle seeds, apples, equanimity,
nature romantic to the urban mind.
Has global warming affected your property in any way?
The effects of global warming are of course regional and becoming apparent over time. We are already experiencing decreased average rainfall, more and longer droughts, milder winters. All this impacts on our property in terms of planning for changes in water availability, soil moisture retention and growing different plant species and varieties more adapted to the changed conditions.
What's your position on coal seam gas/fracking (I think I can guess!)?
In my view it's a criminal, last ditch attempt by the energy corporations and governments to extract the harder-to-get fossil fuels that have now become more economically viable because of rising energy prices due to diminishing supplies in the age of Peak Oil. To poison or deplete aquifers, especially in the age of increasing water scarcity and thus food insecurity - both due to climate chaos - should be a capital crime.
What part of Morton National Park do you most love?
The walk to Erith Coal Mine for its rich and shifting biodiversity and altitudinal changes in vegetation and vibe. Good for the cardiovascular system.
Share with me a story from life on your property.
Mid-nineties, I was trying to reduce some blackberry patches by burning off. The fire became a grass fire that very quickly got out of control. There was no house on the property then. This was also before mobiles. I had to drive to a neighbour's to phone the bush fire brigade. When I drove back, I could see huge billowing clouds of smoke rising from our property and my heart sank through my boots as I thought that the fire might now have spread to the big trees and our neighbour's property. Luckily, it hadn't, although it had spread up the grass slope and was licking the big trees. After a long and nervous wait, the bush fire brigade finally arrived in totally laid-back fashion, and to my surprise considered it an insignificant kind of fire, even complimenting me on trying to burn off blackberry. They put it out in no time and even politely declined my offer of money or at least a couple of beers. Long live our bush fire fighters.
Will you stay in Bundanoon for many years to come?
If possible, I'd like to only leave this place inside a coffin.
LJ, January 16 2012.
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