Our World Tuesday - The Hazards

You may have noticed that I have a bit of a love affair with Tasmania.  I'd move there in a second - but there are very good family reasons not to.  So, I'll have to make do with fleeting visits and longer trips now and then.

This is the view over Coles Bay towards The Hazards.  The images in a previous post were taken from the highest point on this line if hills.

In the dim and distance past a mass of race was pushed up from deep within the Earth.  It found some weaknesses in the sedimentary stone above it and formed domes of cooling granite.  Over the long ages the over lying rock was worn away by time and even ice.  The domes, being made of sterner stuff resisted the hand of time and now stand clear of their overburden.  I think they look like the knuckles of  a fist, punching its way to the surface.

I could look at this view for a very long time.

When you swan in the water it was like you floating in nothing -  just being held up some unseen hand.  Its a remarkable place.

You can find more images from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

Enjoy the pictures.

Macro Monday - Overlooked?

I think that plants like moss, liverworts and, to a lesser extent, ferns are a rather over looked source of images.

For some reason I have been interested in these plants for many years - although I still dont take many picture of them.  One of a long list of photographic resolutions for this year was to rectify this omission.    Woodlands and especially rain forests are great places to look for these plants.

Of course the very places that they grow do not always lend themselves to photography.  They are lovers of dark dampness, places of dripping shade.

These are rather hasty pictures taken while the whole family was suffering from attack from waves of leaches! Under the circumstances I rather like them. (The pictures that is, not the leaches!)

They were taken in a smallish patch of rainforest - Mavista Rain Forest - on Bruny Island, Tasmania.

More to follow as the year turns.

You can find more macro shots at Macro Monday. 

Enjoy the images.

Sky Watch Friday - From below

It's not really much of a shock to realise that we take most of our pictures of the sky from within it - or at least from the very bottom of it.  Shots from planes (the flying type) and very high mountains are exceptions - but I dont seem to get window seats and I can't climb Everest!

This though occurred to me a few weeks ago, so I tried to take some images of the sky from within the ocean.  That is I deliberately angled the camera upwards to try to photograph the sky through the surface of the water.

As you can see this was not entirely successful.  I think most of the colour you can see is light being refracted back into the water from the plants and such like below - I think the boundary between the water and the air is acting like a mirror.

Anyway - I tried and I like this abstract image.

You can find more pictures - include ones that actually show the sky - at SkyWatch Friday.

Enjoy the pictures.

Wild Bird Wednesday 30 - Green Rosella

The Green Rosella (Platycercus caledonicus) is only found in Tasmania, despite a name that suggests it comes from New Caledonia.

Thankfully for a bird with a restricted range it is still common - in fact in some places in Tasmania it is the commonest parrot.  This being said, most of the view I got were of birds on the wing!

This individual is clearly in much better shape that the one the collided with our window.

I took these shots through the open passenger window of my car as I was parked in the middle of the road.  Its a good job that there is not very much traffic on Bruny Island.

Like most parrots they do seem to have the look of a character about them.  This bird was very pleased to show off both profiles.  There were two other birds in some longer grass in a shallow ditch at the base of the fence, but they did not want to cooperate.

Green Rosella

Green Rosella

Now its your turn to get involved with WBW.

Click on the link below, visit others, comment, invite bloggers along and generally enjoy the birds!

Our World Tuesday - Bottlenose Dolphins

When we were away in Tasmania we took a wonderful boat trip around the Freycinet Peninsula.  The trip had the combined goals of great scenery and great wildlife.  It provided both.

Regulars will have already seen some of the albatross we encountered.

But this post is about the Bottlenose dolphins we encountered as well. I've been fortunate enough to see dolphins and porpoises in a number of places around the world.  When I lived in Ireland I used to see them almost every day.  But on this trip I think I saw more dolphins in one day than I even have before.  At one time there was a pod of these mammals spread over an area of over 500 m and everywhere you looked the water was breaking with fins.  I have no idea how many individuals were in the pod - but its safe to say there were lots!

Here are some of the (many) pictures I took during the trip:

I have one image (which is not great in some ways) where you can see at least 9 dolphins in from of the boat.  It was one of those "David Attenborough" kind of moments.

You can find more shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday. 

Enjoy the pictures.

Macro Monday - Dainty Swallow Tail

Last week H was having a post dinner bounce on the trampoline when he declared "Look, a huge moth".  Well, apart from the moth being a butterfly, he has a point.

Sitting just above the start of the render on the back of the house was Dainty Swallow Tail - although I only found that out after I had taken the pictures.  Most people keep step ladders in the shed or garage to change light globes or paint the ceiling.  I keep them to take macro shots half way up the walls of our  house.

So, the Dainty Swallow Tail (Papilio anactus) is widespread down the east side of Australia.  Even if you know what your doing tts hard to tell if this is a male of female, so I won't embarrass myself.

Strangely, it was still resting there on the wall the next morning.  It was still alive, it flapped its wings when I gave it a gentle poke!

You can find more macro images at Macro Monday.

Enjoy the close ups.