Humpback Whale

Last weekend I went on (another) whale watching trip, based out of San Remo in Victoria.

This time we found a whale!

After about 40 minutes of searching we cam upon this youthful - not full grown according to the crew - and energetic Humpback Whale.

Although I have seen whales in the past, my views have been limited to tails and few fins.  This whale put on a wonderful display of breaching and pectoral fin slaps.  At one stage the whale breached close to the boat - but of course I was on the other side, although I did manage to see it crashing back into the water.

Fast focus and burst mode were the order of the day.  I have to say, that this was a pretty special experience.

At one point, while the whale was slapping its pectoral fins, the boat engines were turned off - I was great to be able to hear the amount of noise that this behaviour creates.  Just wonderful.

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

Wild Bird Wednesday 367 - Pacific Gull

The Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus) is a very large gull, with a mass of of just over 1kg and and a wing span reaching 1.5 m.  For comparison, the  Pacific Gull is a little smaller than the Great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), but it does seem to have a much larger beak for its size.

All in all they are am impressive bird.

This individual was loafing about a picnic area at Tidal River at Wilson's Promontory National Park.  As I was watching and photographing this bird I could see it was banded / ringed.  With a bit of help from the photographs I was able to read the ring details and send them off to the relevant authorities.

It turns out this bird was at least five years old when it was banded - which means it was banded as an adult.  It was banded 11 years, 11 months and 15 days before I saw it, which makes it around 17 years old!  That's older than my son!

Possibly not that strangely it was banded at Tidal River at Wilson's Promontory National Park - which means that the recorded movement for this recovery over almost a 12 year period, is zero! I wonder where it really has been.  I also suspect that this is not the first time this bird has been recorded.

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

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Central Australia, Larapinta Trail - Part 2

Although I had a small 'pocket' camera with me, I was glad I took my SLR as well - I think I would have been a fish out of water without it.

These pictures continue from the last Central Australia post.  The images from the Heavitree Ridge walk are taken from the second day of the walk. Although this area had been burnt, it was one of the more remarkable landscapes I have walked in.

A few people have asked questions, so yes it was hard under foot, but decent boots overcame that (until I tripped over on the last but one day!) and although the area was very dry, it was also generally cool and pleasant in the days and cold (and wonderful) at night.  We only carried day sac and a sense of adventure.

Ormiston Gorge

Ormiston Gorge

Ormiston Gorge

Ormiston Gorge

Heavitree Ridge - on way to Counts Point

Heavitree Ridge - on way to Counts Point

Heavitree Ridge - on way to Counts Point - to think this was once the ocean floor

Heavitree Ridge - Counts Point

Heavitree Ridge - Counts Point

Heavitree Ridge - Counts Point

Heavitree Ridge - from Counts Point

Heavitree Ridge - from Counts Point

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

Wild Bird Wednesday 366 - Laughing kookaburra

A very short WBW this week - still trying to catch up with last week, work and a sore (but thankfully healing) ankle and a few other life things.

This is that most Australian of birds the Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae).  The pictures were taken when we were down at Wilsons Promontory a couple of week ago.

No matter how many times I see these birds, they always make me smile.

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Central Australia - Larapinta Walk - Ormiston Pound

I have just come back from six days of walking in Central Australia - the walks were largely based on sections of a long distance path called The Larapinta Trail.

These pictures are from a walk that took in Ormiston Pound, and Ormiston Gorge.  This walk starts 135 km West of Alice Springs and ends at the Gorge.  As you can see from these pictures, this is a pretty dry area - although there are water holes in the Gorge.

The last picture shows the flat area of the Pound - with the entrance to the Gorge being in the shadows in the top left hand side of the picture.  You can see dry river valleys in the base of The Pound.

We were never far from the evidence of a huge fire that passed through this area early in 2019 - but there were also signs of the vegetation recovering.  The whole area needs some rain.

This won't be the last post from this walk!

Something seems to have happened at Blogger, so I have not received any notifications from my last two posts (not that I had internet access!) - but I will try to catch up.

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