Pieman River 4 - Gum (boot) Tree

Much as I try and take photography seriously - I can't resist I visual gag when I find one.

This tree was 'growing' in the garden of the huts that cluster around the mouth of the Pieman River.

This is clearly a Gum(boot) Tree!

Although, I think if it was in the UK it would be Wellingtonia!

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

The Pieman River 3 - Driftwood Macro

Just a brief post today - these are a couple of macro shots of the driftwood on the beach the the mouth of the Pieman River.

I considered doing these as black and white shots, but I like the hints of colour.

You can find more macro shots at Macro Monday2 and I Heart Macro.

The Pieman River 2 - On The Beach

This is the mouth of the Pieman River - basically looking west from here there is nothing but sea until you reach South America - that is a remarkable thought really.

Many of the logs on the beach are natural, washed down in floods, but a few were obviously escaped felled trees that had been floated down the river years ago.

If you look really hard at the sky you can see South America!

You can see more skies at Sky Watch Friday.

Wild Bird Wednesday 134 - Black Currawong

Currawongs are some of my favourite birds - they are smart, active, vocal birds.  Although they look a lots like crows, they are in fact more closely related to Butcherbirds.

This species is the Black Currawong - and it only occurs in Tasmania.  It goes by the name of Strepera fuliginosa which means 'sooty noisy bird' which is as good a description as I could give it.  At about 47 -49 cm long these are impressive birds to see close at hand.

(For those of you with an eye for detail, you will notice that this is the second bird this year with a specific name of fuliginosa - last week's Sotty Oystercatcher having the same specific name).

I am sure these birds were used to receiving handouts from tourists as they would often sit on the window ledges of our cabin and stare inside, skewering us with those intense yellow eyes!

One of these birds has a deformed beak, and I think that you can tell that his (her?) plumage looks a little less well cared for that the first bird.  Maybe that 'extension' prevents it from preening properly.

If you have a look at the second picture of the bird with the 'extra beak' I think you can see that the lower mandible is damaged - this web site by the BTO suggests this may be the cause of the strange growth of the upper one.

Now it's your turn - click the blue button below and off you go!

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The Pieman River

The Pieman River is just under 100km long and flows into the ocean on the west coast of Tasmania.

While the river is splendid in these lower sections it has been damed, like many other Tasmanian rivers,  to generate Hydro-electricity in its upper reaches.

We took two trips along the Pieman, one under our own power and one on a tour boat. As you can that the weather was not exactly postcard perfect - with Tassie Sunshine falling from the sky at regular intervals.

More shots from the Pieman to follow on Friday.

We stayed in a place called Corinna, where a ferry crosses the river.

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

Beach Cast / Strand Line

One of the things I noticed about the beaches on the east coast of Tasmania, was the number of shells cast up in places.  In some places there was more shell than sand underfoot.

So, all of these pictures are taken on the beach with nothing added or removed - remarkable really.

The beaches at just outside of the 'town' of Coles Bay, within the Freycinet National Park in Tasmania.

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