Monthly Archives: March 2010

Sundown – somewhere Outback

Posted on March 31, 2010 by admin

Posted in Outback South Australia | 3 Comments

A Little Quixotic

Posted on March 29, 2010 by admin

Hot air balloons always make a spectacular sight and sometimes a startling one too in early light of morning.

It’s likely to be a more regular occurrence in the winter months at Rawnsley Park station link where the adventurous will get a birds eye view of Wilpena Pound.


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Unhappy Mother

Posted on March 24, 2010 by admin

Getting anywhere near a wedge-tailed eagle without some very serious lens equipment is almost impossible. Goodness knows I have been trying for long enough.

The forces of nature were on my side for once. It was blowing so hard this very p…off female wasn’t leaving her chosen branch if she could help it.

I have an excellent Canon 28-300mm L series zoom lens which, right out at 300mm was just enough to get close enough for this shot.

But you could say I was ruffling a few feathers.

Female wedge-tailed eagles are much bigger than their male counterparts – perhaps because they look after the young – unlike emus.

Talking of serious equipment – her footware looks very formidable too.

Posted in Fauna | 2 Comments

Golden Light Pt. 3

Posted on March 18, 2010 by admin

Just before or after storms can be very productive times for landscape photographs. It doesn’t always work, but this day it did.

Wilpena Pound and the Elder Range can turn on spectacular displays in stormy light.

Posted in Wilpena Pound | 1 Comment

Golden Light Pt. 2

Posted on March 15, 2010 by admin

Mt. Painter, Arkaroola, northern Flinders Ranges.

If the controversial uranium mine gets the green light on Arkaroola, Mt. Painter will be right in the firing line.

On the previous posting “Golden Light Pt. 1″ the detail in the foreground got a bit lost in the transfer to the blog.

My apologies for that.

Similarly the golden colours in today’s photograph are a bit muted.

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Golden Light Pt. 1

Posted on March 11, 2010 by admin

Sliding Rock, Warraweena Sanctuary, northern Flinders Ranges

Posted in Warraweena | 2 Comments

Camp Fire

Posted on March 7, 2010 by admin

South wall, Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges. Thunderstorm approaching.

Posted in Wilpena Pound | 1 Comment

Tears in the Dust

Posted on March 4, 2010 by admin

I had a request for some photos from last year’s Angepina race meeting and when looking for the photos I found the following little drama, which I had forgotten about.

It’s a race around the barrels and one young aboriginal boy is showing what a great horseman he’s likely to be one day.

Unfortunately his older brother was a bit too keen on winning the race and our horseman is about to be
dumped unceremoniously from his steed.


Too bad I missed the action….but there was some sympathic encouragement and comfort when the tears started to flow


Mum was soon on the scene to soothe away the hurt and shock.

“Get back on the horse straight away” seems to be the advice from one of the really experienced riders, who no doubt had been in the same situation plenty of times before,


There was an offer to use her horse and after a few minor adjustments this gutsy young fellow was back in the saddle.


Considering his size, the size of the horse and how far he could fall, it’s a pretty brave effort.

Words of encouragement and congratulation at the finishing post. The spill now forgotten..

Posted in Events | 4 Comments

The Miracle of the Desert.

Posted on March 1, 2010 by admin

Something pretty exciting is happening in the Outback of South Australia.

There’s a vast inland sea building there. The most rains in a decade have drenched the Strzelecki and Simpson Deserts leaving huge areas awash with floodwaters which will fill Australia’s largest freshwater inland system, the Coongie Lakes.

Most years these two deserts are beautiful but inhospitable places. However with rain, they transform into a natural wonderland.

In the fast evaporating waters from the last flooding perhaps 10 to 15 years ago, millions of fish eggs lie in the burning sands.

When the waters come these eggs hatch and a seething mass of fish fill the lakes.

Somehow in nature’s mysterious way, birds from all over Australia and as far away as Russia began to arrive in legions, feasting on the vast schools of fish.

I watched all this the last time it happened in 1999 and 2000, flying many times over the lake system.

While the pictures are pretty average, shot one handed through the perspex of my aircraft window, they illustrate the extent of the waters.


In this one, small islands in the lake system become the spawning ground for thousand of pelicans. They mate here and stay while their young grow strong – feeding all the while on the abundance of fish.

The shot was taken almost at the end of the cycle so many of the birds have moved on.

While it impossible to reach at the moment – in the months to come when the roads and tracks dry out, it will be something really worth seeing.

Posted in Coongie Lakes, Strzelecki Desert | 1 Comment