Top Birds & Everyfing

Bali - People, Dance, Carvings, Luwak Kopi, Paddy, Traffic

Much about Balinese people is expressed in their dance. There are so many different dances most of which seem to represent their religious life and goes way back in Balinese culture.

Beautifully carved demons and other mythical beings protect building from evil intruders. They decorate doors, windows, lintels and all parts of buildings. Each carving may take months to make. Carving skills are often handed down from generation to generation.

Rice, ever present in Bali. From the patterns of terraced paddy fields, rice drying on tarpaulins spread out on the roads, it's everywhere.

Under a blue Balinses sky rice paddy presents a peaceful rural scene. Rice paddy that was once ploughed by buffalo... hard to find these days... it's now ploughed by the Japanese Buffalo... 

A Balinese village woman.

Motor bikes and trucks and traffic. Bali traffic is crowded, bustling, swarming and hectic and defies any form of rules. It's the only system that can get so many vehicles going in so many different directions at once because its based on flexibility, bravado, politeness, patience, cheap petrol and good humour. In Australia our driving habits are based on ego, rage, impatience and our own sense of self-importance.

Happiness is a street seller.

In the hills above Ubud coffee beans are roasted on an open fire.

The beans are constantly turned in an earthern ware dish until fully roasted. Despite being heated by open flames the dish is not hot to the touch. Luwak coffee beans pass through the digestive system of the Civet (mongoose) Cat and are then processed. It's some of the most expensive coffee in the world... if you like that sort of thing.

At least he's wearing a helmet.

At the end of the day you can always go to Echo Beach for a surf followed by a barbque dinner...

Bali - Come Away, Come Away

After walking down the narrow cleft in the rock here is what you see... Padang Padang scene of Eat Pray Love.

Huge surf looking from the cliffs at Ulawatu.

Stone Statue at the Ulawatu Temple. Beware the temple monkeys steal the sunglasses off your face... allegedly. 

Spaghetti Junction... insane wiring on a street pole in Denpasar.

The insanely maniacal traffic around Kuta, Seminyak and Canggu. It took 20 minutes to go 300 metres. Even the motor bikes and motorscooter were stopped...

A decorative wall display in a restaurant in Seminyak... is there a message here! Raspberry juice will sort out anything.

Rice paddy at Ubud.

Wild Bali Starling - Bali Barat National Park

When I came to Bali I had not the slightest expectation of seeing a Bali Starling Leucopsar rothschildi especially as it's one of the world's rarest birds, but I saw one anyway. And to boot it was a wild bred bird in its natural habitat. The Bali Starling is more correctly (and boringly) regarded as a myna and often is refered to as the Bali Myna. Anyway, I spent the morning with friends at the Bali Barat National Park with local guide Hery Kusumanegara. Our driver drove us from Canggu (not far from Denpasar) for about three uneventful hours (ignoring the almost head-on with a bus on the wrong side of the road merely overtaking a line of trucks around a blind corner... as you do) leaving before dawn at the un-holiday-like hour of 5:00 a.m. to get to the park at 8:00 a.m. Driving in Bali is interesting.

The main habitat of the Bali Starling is dry savanah woodland on the end of the Propat Agung Peninsular in the Bali Barat National Park. The volcano in the distance is across the straits in Java.

To get to the place where Hery optimistically (in my mind as I was still unconvinced we would see one) suggested we would look for a Bali Starling we went by boat to the Propat Agung Peninsular. It's also the only remaining habitat of the Javan Lutung or Black (Ebony) Monkey on Bali... which we also saw... the babies are orange. We didn't however see a Bali Tiger which was not surprising as the last one in Bali was shot in the park in the 1930's, there abouts.

The vegetation types throughout the whole the Bali Barat National Park consists of mangrove forest, savanah woodland, monsoon forest and rain forest. The preferred tree for the Bali Starling is Acacia leucoplea which is a tall white-barked long living acacia that grows in the savanah woodland.

A wild Bali Starling in the Bali Barat National Park. The are only five wild Bali Starlings in this part of the park. There are two pairs and this single year old bird. All the wild birds are banded.

The Bali Starling is extremely rare in the wild and is listed as critically endangered. It is endemic to Bali and in the wild probably number about 30 birds. Larger numbers exist at the Nusa Penida Bird Sanctuary (sourced from captive populations) on an island east of Bali; in various zoos around the world and by bird fanciers particularly in nearby Java where 500 to one thousand individuals may exist. The wild population are still threatened by poachers who can sell the birds for about $3,000 each.

However there is a captive breeding population for release and other wild populations exist in the national park.

The Bali Starling showing it's crest. Blue skin surrounds the eye. The feathers on the forehead come forward over the bill. The wing tips and tail tips are black.

After preening itself the Bali Starling flew into this acacia leucoplea and began foraging. The white branches and trunks may help to camoflage the bird. Unlike most mynas it does not seem to forage on the ground.

This photo shows the black wing tips. The feathers on the forehead come over the bill which is a bone colour at the tip fading darker towards the head.

The second half of the day we spent in the monsoon forest at Tempat Wisata Resort where there is a large tower overlooking the forest. There we saw this Crested-Serpent Eagle. 

Our guide Hery Kusumanegara overlooking the savanah woodland which is the preferred habitat of the Bali Starling. Hery is Balinese and an experienced guide who has a detailed knowledge of the Bali Starling, it's conservation and distribution as well as the other birds, mamals and vegetation of the area. He has travelled to Yokohama to study the captive population there. Hery is based near the Bali Barat National Park. I contacted him through Birdingpal but he can be contacted directly at: hery_kn@yahoo.co.id

Hery offers one to three day tours including the rain forest parts of the park as well tours of nearby Java.

The list of birds seen at the park are as follows:

White-breasted Woodswallow, Glossy Swiftlet, Common Tern, Bridled Tern, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Olive-backed Sunbird, Bali Starling, Lesser Coucal, Bar-winged Prinia, Small Minivet, White-shouldered Triller, Great Tit, Golden-bellied Gerygone, Java Sparrow, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Pied Fantail, Zebra Dove, Island Collared Dove, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Green Junglefowl, Crested Serpent-Eagle, Coppersmith Barbet, Small Blue Kingfisher, & Pink-necked Green Pigeon.

Other animals were:

Javan Deer, Grey Monkey, Black Monkey, Wild Boar, Water Monitor, Barking Deer.

Bali Barat National Park is also known as the West Bali National Park.

The colourful and very active Small Minivet hovers about foraging for insects.

A Bali Dawn Chorus on the Beach

From my bedroom overlooking the Indian Ocean I awake to the sound of the surf rolling in from the south. There is a faint glow of dawn in the sky and on the water. I can hear the Yellow-vented Bulbuls calling and the silouettes of Scaly-breasted Munias carrying stalks of vegetation up to their nest under eves outside my bedroom window.

The south east trades are starting to blow at this time of the year, the sky is hazy and the humidity is lowering... dawn brings a pastal shading to the sky that is only seen in the tropics.

A Yellow-vented Bulbul carrying food up onto the frond of a coconut palm.

In the tropics the transition from night to day and day to night is quick. While I'm sitting here writing the day has arrived. Below my "office" an irridescent Javan Kingfisher is sitting on a powerline surveying the ground below.

The Javan Kingfisher is such an unmistakeable bird. Its deep blue body contrast the striking red bill and feet. In flight a white wing patch flashes conspiculously as it flies quickly into the vegetation.

It's not all beer and skittles up here. We're staying in a five bedroom private house right on the beach north along the coast from Kuta. Sadly I can't tell you where because I want to keep it secret... as you do! And there are daily descisions to make... when to have breakfast, do I swim in the lap pool or the relaxation pool or both, shall I lie around on the balcony overlooking the sea or on the deck chairs beside the pool?

The lap pool goes under the house and out to the main relaxation pool that overlooks the sea.

From the upstairs balcony looking towards the south east. In the distance is Kuta, Denpasar and the popular surf beach of Uluwatu on the Bukit Peninsular.

A Scaly-breasted Munia building it's nest under the eves in front of the bedroom.

The back yard and the two garden bedrooms...

The Colours of Lombardi in the Spring

 Form, colour, style and creativity is Italy... appearance is... food, clothes, pizza's and helicopters...

My favourite Pizza Cafe In Sesto Calende.

Pizza Bufala. Italian pizzas are just the best... thin crust, pomodoro (tomato base) cooked quickly in a wood fired oven and then topped with fresh roquette, cherry tomatos and buffalo mozzarella...

Crystal clear water flowing through the deciduous forest in the hills above Lago Maggiore.

 The central dome of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milano.

 One of the display windows of the Louis Vuitton negozio under the central dome of the Galleria... 

The Milano di Duomo took six centuries to build and is the fourth largest cathedral in the world. It's dim interior high lights the great arrays of stained glass windows.

The Duomo di Milano, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and the Teatro alla Scala... are all close by one another in centro Milano.

December Birds In “Red Dog” Country.

 

The Miaree Pool west of Karratha. A hundred or so Plumed Whistling Ducks rest of the banks.

The last time I was in the Pilbara was this July, 2011 when "Red Dog" had its premier in Karratha. Because this was a short visit I just kept to my usual haunts... the coastal strip at Nickol Bay east of the township of Karratha and the Miaree Pool on the Maitland River west of Karratha. No doubt the Red Dog had been there looking for his mate...

 

A mixed bunch of waders arriving at their high tide resting site at Nickol Bay, Karratha.

December is generally not regarded as the most pleasant time to visit the Pilbara, especially if you are hotness adverse or bush fly adverse, but so far this year it has been surprisingly cool and according to the Old Mate only a half a million bush flies to the acre.

 

A Pheasant Coucal foraging among esturine mangroves.

For bird watchers this year has been a great time to be along the northern coast of Australia (and everywhere else) because of the abnormally high rainfall over the last year or so. For instance, the BOM website gives the average rainfall to December for Karratha as 273 mm (10 inches... so it’s arid) and the total for the year up to December in 2010 as 55 mm... parched! So far this year (2011) a total of 765 mm has been recorded, almost three time the average and fifteen times the 2010 total. As I write the first cyclone of the 2011/2012 season (Cyclone Alenga) is dispersing north west of Australia without touching land... always gets everyone’s attention in the Top End.

 

A very relaxed Magpie Lark...

2011 has been an exceptionally wet year across the length and breadth of Australia. South western WA was last on the list and finally got it’s rains by midwinter. So for the first time in I would imagine, many many years the whole of the Australian continent was green. Right across the normally arid areas of central and northern Australia high rainfall has turned the desert verdant. Some parts of central Australia instead of being its usual dust bowl looked like a cow paddock. In the Pilbara there are still many pools of water lying in the creeks and rivers where most of them would normally be bone dry.

 

While there are not so many as there was earlier in the year the Sturt Desert Pea is still in flower. This one looks like the head of the "Red Devil", not a "Red Dog".

At this time of the year the migrating waders are well established in their southern hemisphere summer habitat. Across the several thousand kilometers of coastline along the top of Australia there is an almost boundless expanse of mud and sand flats exposed by the high tidal movement... up to 10 metres in places. Most of this area is remote and difficult to access. It is almost impossible to get a handle on just how many birds are potentially out there but at least here in Karratha it is not too difficult to get a taste... and a hunger to explore further.

 

White-plumed Honeyeaters were very active around the Miaree Pool. These northern birds seem to have a large dark eye and a pale bill.

Nickol Bay boat ramp is a great coastal location to visit for both a richness of species and abundance of birds and is only a few minutes from the centre of town. It has a bustling interface with the wide expanses of tidal mud and sand flats out to sea, the mangroves that fringe the coast in many places, the estuaries of mangroves, samphire and open mudflats; and the grasslands, shrubs and rocky outcrops immediately behind the coast.

 

Singing Honeyeaters are common along the coastal fringe.

The Miaree Pool is under the North Western Coastal Highway a short drive west of Karratha. It is one of the many places where the Maitland River flows down over rocky outcrops into a series of wide and deep pools. The banks are fringed with tall eucalypts, reeds and shrubs. Triodia spinifex grasslands and sparse acacia bushes cover the surrounding undulating hills.

 

Whistling Kites, Black Kites and Wedge-tailed Eagles are frequently seen at the Miaree Pool area.

The Pilbara, while's its probably not on the "hot spot" bird watching map is a really interesting destination for bird watchers looking for something a little bit different and who enjoy exploring areas that are off the beaten track. Who knows... you might see a red dog!

The Manhattan High Line

The High Line in Western Manhattan provides a quiet walk surrounded by nature. It was landscaped on a disused elevated railroad.

Frozen turkeys were the last freight carried on the elevated rail way that ran over streets and through buildings on the west side of Manhattan Island. After that it fell disused and nature began to reclaim it. Grasses, shrubs and trees grew in the gravel among the steel railway lines. Part of the line was demolished until locals successfully managed to convince the authorities to retain the un demolished section and make it a public park.

 

The High Line passes through some of the older and more run down areas of Manhattan. The Hudson River and New Jersey in the background. 

Now there are over two kilometers of aerial walkway from 30th Street West southwards to Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District. The pebble concrete path strolls beside, wooden seats, grassy lawns and gives elevated views of the city. The railway lines have been left in place and the grasses and woodland trees grow out from between them. A wetland section has water flowing over the pavement where you can sit on the wooden seats, remove your foot ware and paddle bare feet alongside tall reeds.

 

Good views can be had looking down the East - West Streets of Manhattan Island.

We sauntered south along it’s entire length, stopping frequently for a relaxing look over the Hudson River, the old buildings and warehouses around Chelsea, and lunching in the tunnel where the railway passed through the Western Electric building.

 

The original railroad passed through the General Electric building. I'ts now a nice spot to shelter for lunch and buy a coffee.

There are lots of unexpected and innovating aspects to New York City and this is just one of them. And while it doesn’t have the huge expanse of Central Park, the High Line provides an unhurried natural place above the hectic bustle of the city below.

There's even a patch of lawn to walk on and wooden benches to relax.

Once Bittern, Thrice Bittern at Bool Lagoon

 
Australasian Bittern Botaurus poiciloptilus hides in reeds at Bool Lagoon in the south-east of South Australia. Their cryptic feather pattern, colouring and habit of hiding in dense reed beds make them difficult to find. When disturbed they freeze with their bills pointed skywards imitating a stump. One of the most difficult birds to see and therefore little is known about them, where they are found, and how many there are.

Returning from Port MacDonnell in the far south of South Australia where I had been on a pelagic trip I stopped for a look around Bool Lagoon during the morning of the 17^th of January 2011.

 

An Australian White Ibis Threskiornis molucca and eggs, just one of the many birds breeding on the lagoon.

Bool Lagoon is a Ramsar-listed wetland and is an important breeding and refuge site for waterbirds. It dried up last summer but in the winter of 2010 rains once again began to fill the lagoon. Recently heavy rains within the last week have water flooding into the main lagoon from Mosquito Creek.

 

A Whistling Kite, at Bool Lagoon. 

 

A mixed bunch of Australian Black Swan, adults and cygnets, Yellow-billed and Royal Spoonbills in the shallows of Bool Lagoon.

After being largely deserted when it was dry, the lagoon is now teeming with birds at various stages of breeding. There are large numbers of Australian Black Swan, Magpie Geese, Australian Shelduck, Straw-necked Ibis and Purple Swamphen among lots of other species.

 

Three Australasian Bitterns, fly into a stiff south west breeze. Slow laborious wing-beats and trailing legs made progress slow.

While I was looking out over the lagoon I was astonished to see a single Australasian Bittern rise out of a small island of dense reed-beds in broad daylight and then land again shortly afterwards. I knew Bitterns had been reported recently but to see one rise like a Phoenix was unexpected. I drove around as close as I could to where it landed and looked out across the narrow waterway between the reed island and the edge of the lagoon. I could hear it occasionally “booming”.

 

The "Three Bitterns". Not exactly the "Three Tenors"... more like the "Three Foghorns"... their low booms are tantalisingly heard occasionally but seldom make an appearance much to the frustration of bird watchers. 

After some searching with my binoculars one became visible just in from the edge of the reeds. It once again lumbered heavily into the air flying over to another small reed island when even more surprisingly two more Bitterns rose out of the reeds and joined it in flight. There was a southwest breeze blowing across the water and the three bitterns climbed higher and headed off into the wind but made little progress. They eventually got tired of that and turned back to land close to where they had taken off from on the second reed island.

 

The wind was too strong so they returned to the reed-beds from whence they came.

The last time I saw an Australasian Bittern was in NZ many years ago. To see one was exciting but to photograph three of them together was unexpected as there numbers are so low that they are listed as vulnerable in Australia.

 

A Magpie Goose Anseranas semipalmata using maximum down thrust to get airborne.

After the long years of drought the now significant rains, particularly in the central and eastern regions of the continent, are going to provide a far-reaching opportunity for Australian birds to breed. All over Australia wetlands that have been dry for decades are now full or filling rapidly. Our understanding of bird numbers and where they are found is likely to go through some consequential alteration over the next few years as the full effect of these unusually wet-years becomes known.

 

A Stubble Quail Coturnix pectoralis hides in the grasses besides Bool Lagoon. One of the many land birds that are also benefitting from the abundant rain and growth.

The full species count was as follows: (In order of sighting)

Australian Pipit - 8

Straw-necked Ibis - 300+

Australian White Ibis - 40

Australian Magpie - 26

Welcome Swallow - 100+

Swamp Harrier - 9

Whistling Kite - 1

Wedge-tailed Eagle - 4

Australian Shelduck - 300+

Masked Lapwing - 42

Crested Pigeon - 4

Golden-headed Cisticola - 4

Skylark - 2

Superb Fairy-wren - 3

White-fronted Chat - 22

Pied Cormorant - 20

Australian Black Swan - 250+

Eurasian Coot - 26

Australian Reed-warbler - 6

Purple Swamphen - 68

Musk Duck - 5

Magpie Goose - 300-500

Australasian Bittern - 3

Willie Wagtail - 2

Stubble Quail - 2

Peregrine Falcon - 1

Yellow-billed Spoonbill - 15

Royal Spoonbill - 2

Hardhead - 6

Marsh Tern - 100+

Pacific Black Duck -  6

Australasian Grebe - 2

Australian Raven - 2

White-necked Heron - 8

White-faced Heron - 16

Common Starling - 30

Nankeen Kestrel - 1

Brown Falcon -  2

Galah - 6 

 

 

 

 

 

The Old Mate's Dog Needs Counselling!

There's a whole generation of cattle dogs, Kelpie's, Border Collies and other mongrel farm dogs out there that are in need of visits to the dog shrink. Even the retired old grey muzzled arthritic and toothless geriatric barking dog hasn't seen it in his lifetime.

The old mate walked into the pub a year ago with his old cattle dog and announced to the totally disinterested patrons of the watering hole that his dog could predict the weather. When it gunna be hot the old dog runs around in circles and so the dog did a few laps of the bar. When it's gunna be windy he bites his tail and farts. When it was eventually safe to come back into the pub and cries to "shoot that bloody dog" had died away, the old mate said when the bush fires are cummin' the old dog stands up on his back feet and yelps "the land of hope and glory" and he did so. One of the blokes in the pub asked, "what's he do if it gunna rain?" "How would I know", said the old mate. "I've only had him ten years!?"

The Millennium Drought has at long last passed for the immediate future at least. After what seems an eternity of higher than normal temperatures and extremely dry conditions that have parched Southern Australia, emptied rivers, lakes and water storages as well as withering the natural and agricultural landscape, the rains have come again. On a recent drive from Wollongong to Adelaide it was a welcome sight to the evidence of extensive rainfall.

Bullenbung Creek. River Red Gums Eucalyptus camaldulensis at long last get their feet wet.

Creeks such as the Bullenbung Creek in NSW’s Riverina have not seen water for years are now flowing again. The wet conditions are a boon for the natural landscape as well as for agriculture, but bring their own set of repercussions.

Salvation Jane Echium plantagineum, also known as Paterson’s Curse and Riverina Bluebell. Straw-necked Ibis forage in the water hidden beneath the carpet of purple flowers.

One of the repercussions is the explosion of Paterson’s Curse. The wet conditions have now germinated an unprecedented carpet of purple flowers like has not been seen for years, if ever before. Those flowers known here, as Paterson’s Curse or Salvation Jane, is an introduced plant that has spread over vast areas of southern Australia due to its phenomenal seed production and ability of the seed to withstand drought conditions over long periods. It is poisonous to livestock especially horses, yet despite that is also given the somewhat contradictory moniker of Salvation Jane because during drought conditions it is a fodder plant for sheep and cattle. Throughout my entire trip, fields of purple haze extend all across inland NSW and South Australia.

The moon sets across a cereal crop in Eastern South Australia. Road side vegetation and paddock trees at least provide some natural habitat in a sea of monoculture.

Pasture land in the Riverina NSW. The Old Mates' dog would not have seen water lying on the land like this and will probably need counselling. For trees such as the River Red Gum floods like this are essential for their life to continue.

River Red Gums need regular spring floods throughout their life to survive and to germinate seedlings. The Murray Darling Basin which has been under years of inappropriate water due to water regulation for irrigation and an over abundance of farm dam construction has severely altered the flooding cycles of the river. Combined with the drought conditions it has as a result caused 75% of the River Red Gums to die or be severely stressed. Meanwhile the federal and state Governments shift the deck chairs yet again.

Cereal crops in the Murray Darling Basin. An abundant year but late rain could down grade their value.

 

 

 

 

 

Massive Waves Hit South Eastern Australia

Massive swells breaking over the reefs at Wollongong south of Sydney.

A gigantic and deep low pressure south of New Zealand is generating large swells all along the coast of South Eastern Australia this morning. The low pressure, reported to be one of the largest depressions on the planet, is expected to create 17 metre waves around Tasmania.

Photographed this morning; Saturday 18th September at dawn. The waves are held up by a fresh offshore wind.

The waves combined with an early morning high tide are causing surges of water to surge in above the the normal tide levels.

 
Long lines of waves break in the early morning light.

 
An Australian Pelican contemplates the waves... I think he decided it too dangerous to be out there... maybe something to eat may get washed ashore... 

 Dangerous surf along the NSW coast is expected to abate by Monday.