Sitting on the surface...

As we were walking along one of the paths around Uluru P gave a squeak of excitement as she came face to face with a small lizard.

It was sitting, motionless on the rock face, not even in a path of sunlight.  It did not move a muscle during the entire time we watched it - I suppose it could have been a little cold.

I have no real idea what sort of beast this is - but my best guess is that its a sort of Dtella.  If anybody knows otherwise please let me know.

You can find more close up shots at Macro Monday 2 and I Love Macro.

Enjoy the pictures.

A hand in the sky.

There are a few visual jokes in the post.

The hand in the sky is not as big as it looks.  And check out the name of the store.

There may be more skyish picture at Sky Watch Friday!

Enjoy the pictures.

Wild Bird Wednesday 56 - Budgerigars

The budgerigar must be one of the best know parrots in the world - my mum had one, my grannie had one and at some time in my early teens I saw one perched on the power-lines outside my house in Somerset - I somehow feel it did not make it through the winter!  The sound of these birds chattering to themselves was common in many front rooms throughout the village, and it was only on close inspection that I found that sounds of bells was coming from the silver ball under the mirror (a compulsory budgie cage accessory as far as I could tell) rather than from the bird itself.

I would have no more consider these to be wild birds than I would have considered unicorns as being abundant.

So seeing these birds in the wild is some form of extraordinary treat.  And it was their distinctive calls that first drew our attention to a small bush just as we started walking (limping in my case!) around one the paths that snake through the many heads of Kata Tjuta.  This first view was fleeting, but it set the tome for the rest of the walk and the budgerigar became the bird of the walk.

As we approached a bridge - soon to be christened The Budgerigar Bridge - we could hear a flock of these small, bright green and vocal parrots calling to each other.  The birds were zipping about in the lower branches, checking out holes and generally doing things that mean there will be young budgerigars coming along soon.

These wild birds may lack some of the more outlandish colours that the cage birds show, but I suppose the genes for that plumage must be in the wild gene pool somewhere.  At about 18 or 19 cm these are not a big bird, and their puffy cheeks make them look like they have rather large heads - or at least no neck.

We should be rather thankful that Gould made his living from painting rather than from naming birds - as he wanted this bird called the "Warbling Grass-Parakeet", which does not really roll off the tongue.  It is thought that the name budgerigar is an attempt to transliterate the name of this bird from one of the Yuwaalaraay group of languages.

Now its your turn to get involved in WBW.

So, click on the link below and off you go.  Remember to visit, invite and comment.

Cheers - Stewart M

The other ones

Uluru must rank along side the Sydney Harbour Bridge as the most well know of Australia landmarks. But, for all my fear of having my citizenship revoked, I have to say I somewhat lesser known site is my favourite.

Now while Kata Tjuta or The Olgas are not really a secret, they do seem to have a lower public profile than Uluru.  And in many ways I actually find them more interesting.  The pathways lead between the cliffs, so that you feel as though you are inside the mountain rather than outside of it. There are surprising views and unexpected stretches of water as well.

I loved the place the first time I saw it - and return visits have not changed that opinion.

So here are some shots of Kata Tjuta.

As you can see the whole structure of Kata Tjuta is more complex that Uluru - and I loved the dark and light of these images.

This last shot is an attempt to show the size of the places in central Australia - you can see Uluru (just) reflected in the wing mirror and Kata Tjuta in the distance.  Its about a 50km trip from one to the other, but in central Australia that means they are basically next door to each other!

All of these images will look a lot better if you click on them to see a larger version.

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

PS: sorry about the long sequence of shots from this trip - the ankle is getting better, but I'm not really getting may photo opportunities as I limp around on one leg!!

On the surface

The landscape of central Australia is remarkable on any number of scales and here I've tried to look at the smallest of these - the very surface of things.

The intense heat and often rapidly cooling nights, wind blown sand, occasional heavy rain and above all else an almost unimaginable spread of time have worn down the rocks.  Uluru has a flaky surafce calling to mind a sheet of rusted metal rather than stone.

Even in the winter you could feel the heat bouncing from it surface.  It called out to be touched.

The flakes form the fastest where water can linger, and their removal has caused the foot worn track up the side of Uluru where people have chosen to climb.

You can find more macro shots at Macro Monday 2 and I Love Macro.

Enjoy the close ups.

Morning Light / Mid-winter Sun

Watching the sunset on the red rocks of Central Australia is a very popular things to do.  And watching the sun light up the rocks in the morning is equally good!

We did not arrive at the crack of dawn - sleepy children and the (continually) surprising distances made sure of that.  But the light was soft, and cut through with pastel colours.  Maybe it was the reflected light, but the sky took on a green cast at times.

From where we were stood you could look out towards the distant heads of Kata Tjuta or towards the closer mass of Uluru - either way the view was great.

You can find more images of the sky at Sky Watch Friday.

Enjoy the pictures.