Category:

Cold, fog, and a 90th birthday

23/6/2013

Summer's coming! Yes, with the winter equinox out of the way - the days are longer (by about a minute, but who cares?) And after a cold and wet week, I watched the few moments of sunshine from Mt Barker summit. Mist draped off the top of the mountain, dissipated when cloud obscured the sun, then rushed up the mountain when the sun came out - astonishingly beautiful!

Fog and rain yesterday on the mountain, strong easterly winds with wind chill near zero today. I honestly don't remember being so cold! Anyway, here's the bird records for the weekend (I was surprised I saw/heard anything!)

And a day apart makes a difference:

The Bird list:

Saturday in heavy fog and rain: wrens, ravens, y/f h/es, babblers, rosies, t-bills; HEARD: fantail, GW, spiney, shrikey

Sunday in swirling mist: fantails, wrens, spiney, pardies (H), black-capped sitellas (on the north side AGAIN!), GW (H) and the (I think) rufous whistlers, y/f h/es, ravens, shrikey (on the freeway bridge!), t-bills, rosies, wattlebirds.

To the NE, mist, 23 June

After a difficult week at work, I've written the entrance scene for a new character for The Isthmus. Not as much as I'd hoped, but any start is no longer a blank page!

And a happy list of birthdays this week (and today): Ashton, Martina, Bruce, and congratulations Stan - 90 years young!

Happy writing
Bo
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A workshop, a bird-list, and The Summiteers

16/6/2013

That's a wet path - not seen in a while

The good news: RAIN and RUNNING WATER! Yes, after around 60mm of rain this week, water was running along the side of the road and some of the paths were...gasp...WET!!

Bird list for Saturday: fantails (one on the cairn), wrens, t-bills, pardies (H), y/f h/es, curras (H), ravens, rosies, clogs, kookas (H), shrikey and spineys.

I spent a "greenie" Saturday morning with "The Summiteers" - the Bush for Life mini-BAT team (BAT = Bush Action Team) that care for the Mt Barker Summit Reserve. Led by the amazing Angela, we removed sporaxsis (weeds) near the carpark to try and reduce its spread. The root bulbs went much deeper than we'd all remembered!

In the afternoon, I attended ASA's Negotiating Publishing Contracts workshop at SAWC with the wonderful Alex Adsett from Alex Adsett Publishing Services. Brilliant workshop (!!) and we learned heaps about copyright, publishing contracts, clauses, and options and tricks for negotiations. I seriously recommend these workshops to anyone who's near publishing stage or already publishing - essential information for any writer!

There's a grey fantail on that cairn

Today started with a beautiful ground mist - sensational from the summit of MtB. Took a longer walk today around the circuit and fire trails.

Bird list for Sunday: pardies, y/f h/es, t-bills (brown? striated? little?), curras (H), pies, corellas, galahs, kookas (H), ravens, clogs, wrens, GWs (male and female on separate tracks on the west side), babblers (H), rosies, spineys, shrikeys, peepers, AND I was told off by a Weebill - my first seen at MtBS!

This afternoon I worked on the amendments to The Isthmus. As the book is expanding out to full novel status, I sent my synopsis to Writer's Digest for feedback. I'm using their advice, plus the advice and ideas from a wonderful friend and colleague (thanks Martina) to add a (longer living) female character. That'll take a month or so to add in. I'm enjoying her character already!

I recommend contacting Writers Digest "2nd Draft" options for feedback on synopsis (etc). Check it out at http://www.writersdigestshop.com/2nd-draft-synopsis/?et_mid=619968&rid=3090566

Will write more soon!

Happy writing
Bo
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Back to normality - and the Bird Reports

27/4/2013

Mrs Golden Whistler

The good part: Celebrated Mum's birthday on Friday by having lunch in town and fixing up some business for her (a better celebration will be next Saturday).

THE BIRD REPORTS

25th April: Circuit Track, Entrance Road, Summit
RBFs + wrens + tbills in a bunch, fantails, y/f hes, spineys playing, clogs
Heard: ravens, pies, curras, babblers, pardies

26th April: Circuit Track, Entrance Road, Summit
Mr & Mrs GW (not calling), fantails, wrens, y/f h/es, spineys, t/bills, babblers, rosies, curras, wattlebirds

27th April: Circuit Track, Entrance Road, Summit (windy)
Y/f h/es, curras, pies, pardies (H), wrens (H), shrikeysx2 - calling (which I recorded) and mimicking currawongs (!), Mrs GW (see pic), y/r t-bills, striated t-bills, rosies, spineys, babblers (MOST IN CAR PARK)

28th April: Fire Track to Quarry
Pardies & Black-capped sitellas in the same dead tree, fantails + t-bills together, curras, sulphurs (H), Willie (on entrance road), MR GW (at quarry), rosies, wrens, clogs, y/f hes, corellas (large flock).

The creek, Mt Barker Springs

Writing: Sent a couple of short stories off to the Writer's Digest 82nd Annual Writing competition. Apart from that, working on the added scenes in The Isthmus - yep, they must go into the RIGHT PLACE.

Back to work tomorrow - starting with a PD Day, students back on Tuesday. It's been a wonderful two week break; hard to psyche up to the rat race. And yes, back to once a week blog posts.

Happy writing (and wish I were bushwalking too)
Bo
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Looking east from the summit

Narrowneck, Prince Henry Walk, Leura Cascades (pt2)

23/4/2013

Early morning, Jamison Valley

I'll start with an apology: to the WWF Train Station Crimson Rosella I forgot to add to my list yesterday! (Can it ever forgive me?)

And I'll follow on with today's bird list: FIRST THE MOST AMAZING SIGHTING: TWO BRAHMINY KITES SOARING OVER NARROWNECK PENINSULA!! WOW!! (see pic - it's the black dot!)

And adding to the list: my favourite Scrubbies (still bossy), sulphurs, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, striated thornbills, spineys, clogs, and a host of small honeyeaters that I think may be yellowies (yellow-faced) and perhaps white-naped, singing honeyeater (I think), rosellas (not sure which one but not crimsons and not easterns), wattlebirds, black-backed pies, ravens, pied currawongs...and heard treecreepers and (again) other assorted tweeters. Will someone please invent a PAUSE button so we can ID these varmits?

Early morning, Three Sisters, Echo Point

Today started with my favourite morning walk along the PHW to Echo Point (so windy!), then it took the train to Leura to visit the Megalong Bookshop (how did I miss it the other day)? Naturally, I came out with two books on the history of the region, and an order for another (after vowing not to). I took a fabulous "Walking track" only track to the Leura Cascades (looking lovely), but didn't go far as I wanted to walk part of the Narrowneck Peninsula.

Narrowneck is an interesting walk - as much for the vegetation as the supersonic bird-life that flies overhead. About 1.5kms along the track the temperate rainforest vegetation virtually ceases and becomes bushland. The views are spectacular, Jamison Valley on the east, Megalong Valley on the west, mountains and cliff faces everywhere - simply breathtaking! I walked as far as the Golden Stairs turnoff and was happy to quit there. No way could I descend those stairs without a rope and tackle! It's a great walk - hope to do more next time. And next time might be some tracks off Blackheath. Cool.

After that it was walking the Katoomba Falls part of the PHW, stopping for lunch at the Cascades (top of falls), then back to Echo Point for a mosey inside the Info Centre and the superb Waradah Aboriginal Centre. WOW!

And I can't get enough of the ferns (have I mentioned them?) :)

Back to Sydney on the train tomorrow, then flying to Adelaide late evening (I hope).

And as I won't be blogging tomorrow night (too late), I wish you all a happy and respectful Anzac Day.

Happy writing and bushwalking and Anzac Day
Bo
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Wentworth Falls - after the flood

22/4/2013

Wentworth Falls (about one fifth)

After early rain, I had a terrific bushwalking day at Wentworth Falls. (The photo shows about one-fifth of the actual falls).

I started with my favourite: Darwin's Walk, where the great man walked along the Jamison Creek (back in the 19th Century). The upper reaches of the creek are regenerating from a fire about two years ago (you guessed it - another fire bug) and the creek itself is
recovering from heavy flash flooding back in February - a massive storm from a collapsing cyclone that decided to dump 300mm IN ONE HOUR on Wentworth Falls (and Leura). ONE HOUR??!!! That's 10 TIMES MORE than Nairne's had in the last seven months!

Several of the walking tracks are still waiting repair - part of the Undercliff Track (and Overcliff?) are still out, as was part of the Prince Henry Walk (PHW) at Leura yesterday.

Jamison Valley, from WWF

Apart from the birds (especially the robins), the best part was meeting a local - Peter - not far into my walk. Peter has a fabulous knowledge of the local history plus a wonderful love of bushland and its animals. I felt like I was on a guided history tour! It was absolutely WONDERFUL! He told me about the floods - apparently the Jamison was running THREE METRES above its current level, which explained why some of the paths seemed more cut out than usual and of course explained the huge amounts of debris and damage (mostly repaired) to the bridges and boardwalks. Apparently 18 people had to be rescued from the lower walking tracks. That no-one was killed is amazing. Even the roads in WWF were flooded (and this is HILLY country). Katoomba apparently had a measly 150mm in one hour. A drought.

I also learned from Peter about how the tracks were cut into the rock faces (by a few men with pickaxes - light years before WHS/OHSW was invented). AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! NO WAY will you get me even WALKING on some of those tracks, let alone cutting them out of a rock face.

Peter DID coax me to retry the Undercliff Track (to the car park turnoff) - AND I made it (well, obviously)! It's so much easier when you have someone with you, plus the track HAS been improved since I last walked it.

I continued along the Shortcut Track to the Conservation Hut. Again, another area that's recovering from fire (and where I saw a pair of robins).

The Bird Report: southern yellow robins (at least 4 today! WOW! They are so beautiful), Scrubbies (bossy), sulphurs, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, striated thornbills

(I think, certainly had striations), spineys, clogs, red-whiskered bulbul, ravens, pied currawongs...and heard treecreepers and assorted other tweeting friends.

My photos of the flood debris caught in the trees aren't clear enough to reproduce here, but I've included some pics of the early morning PHW (Katoomba end), which includes a photo of a landslide (from February too), and WWF.

Still deciding on tomorrow's walk(s).

Happy writing and bushwalking
Bo
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PS Did I mention they have fabulous ferns here? :)
PPS Did I mention that Peter's heard of some spooky stories about Mt Solitary?

Leura, Lyrebird Dell and Gordon Falls

21/4/2013

A hooded orchid (on the left). ID?

Leura today - in brilliant sunshine and temperatures above 10C! What a difference after yesterday's torrential rain. And the good news: rain at last back in South Australia! WOW!

Forgot my camera on the early morning Prince Henry Walk (Katoomba Falls to Echo Point) - damn!

I caught the train to Leura, walked to Leura Cascades and Bridal Vale Falls then took the Gordon Falls track. What magnificent views! Had to detour by Olympic lookout as the track beyond that was closed, walked down to the Gordon Falls lookout, then took the round track past the Pool of Shilom and up to Lyrebird Dell (no lyrebirds, though!) The Dell is gorgeous, with a tumbling waterfall and beautiful hanging swamp above a large cave. Did I mention how gorgeous the ferns are?

The bush is regenerating in several areas (Leura, Katoomba west of Echo Point) after deliberately lit fires over the past 18 months-2 years. I've taken photos in several areas of how it regenerates. It's amazing.

Southern yellow robin, near Bridal Veil Falls

The Bird Report: southern yellow robins (one near Bridal Veil Falls, two others at Gordon Falls picnic area), 2 x white-throated tree creepers (YES!), scrubbies (gorgeous, and so bossy), thornbills (not sure what variety), pied currawongs (free-loading), red wattlebird (trying to do the same), y/f h/es, silvereyes, sulphurs, nd heard eastern whipbirds (at least three) and kookas.

Tomorrow I'm heading for Wentworth Falls and a favourite: Darwin's Walk, and the Shortcut Track.

Happy writing and bushwalking
Bo
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PS and now a host of pics from the Leura region
PPS I'll relocate these in a Gallery on my return. The internet's a bit slow here (my provider, other providers are fine. Yes, I am going to change providers as soon as I can)

Two days, two locations - the Lakes and the Mountain

6/4/2013

Laratinga wetlands with mist

This week, I'll start with the birds. Yesterday, I took my Mum to the Laratinga Wetlands at Mount Barker. Because of the drought, the lakes are low - as they should be in dry weather. It allows the reeds to regenerate and helps aerate some of the soils. A few of the birds waited for it to warm up before they ventured out (it was 7C)! We saw a wonderful gathering of waterbirds, and without brilliant binoculars, neither of us could ID them all, so here's what we were sure of: white-naped honeyeaters, willy wagtails arguing with white-plumed honeyeaters (will those 2 ever get on?), yellow-faced honeyeaters, white-faced heron, white ibis, banded stilt, red-kneed dotterels, spoonbill, purple swamp hen, native hen, black duck, grey teal, chestnut teal, grebe, blackbird (!), and of course - THE WRENS! I know I've forgotten a few. It's a beautiful area for a walk, run (not me!), or to sit and think.

The Pardie Tree with pardies!

It was The Big Pardie Party at MtBS this morning, yes, striated pardelotes everywhere and in groups (YESs!) They started in 'The Pardie Tree' (a dead gum - see pic) and were at several locations around the mount, including the car park. They are soooo cute! On the seen list: rosies, y/f h/es, wrens, t-bills, clogs, pies, babblers. Heard: GWs, fantails, curras, corellas, silvereye ("peepers"). Think I saw a grey shrike-thrush too.

(There are pardelotes in this pic - trust me!)

Forgotten to add the bronze-winged pigeon to the MtBS list for last 2 weeks. Apologies to the bronzie.

On the writing front: Planning the added scenes for The Isthmus. Many of these had been removed or left out previously due to word constraints. Adding more internal conflict for the protagonist (mmmwwwhhaa-aa-aaa)!

Last week of school before the holidays. It's been a difficult term.

Have a great week!

Happy writing
Bo
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FLOODS, FIRES...and AUSTRALIA DAY

27/1/2013

View to the N, MtBS

Happy Australia Day holiday to all Aussies!

For those of us in the south, it's cool for this time of year (23C). Those up in SE Queensland and northern NSW are struggling with dangerous floods and heavy weather conditions from the remnants of Cyclone Oswald. Yep, this cyclone packed a punch-and-a-half. Some areas had 24-hour rain totals that were greater than Adelaide's yearly average! Sadly, some people have already lost their lives, many trying to cross flooded roads - why? And so many of these same people were hit 2 years ago from the La Nina floods. Coming on top of a series of extensive bushfires - it's not a great summer!

It's been "Back to Work" week this week, followed by the inevitable "Back to School" week for the students. I'm a little apprehensive this time simply because of the lack of achievement; hoping it improves this week.

On the writing front: I've emailed my entry to the CWA's Debut Dagger award - who knows, eh? I'm fixing up a short story to enter into the Bristol Short Story Prize and writing a new one for the Kernewek Lowenden writing competition. Plus working on my query letters (etc) - that should be finalised on Friday.

View to the NW

Met with The Summiteers (Bush for Life mini-BAT group) at MtBS to douse the seedlings with long-awaited water. Up until a few minutes ago, we'd still had no rain (be lucky if we've had 0.2mm), in fact, we've had no significant rain in 5 months. The Summiteers are a fabulous bunch: thanks Karen, Tony and Steph. We're meeting next week to plot this year's activities. Exciting stuff!

Bird update: Wrens, thornbills (striated, I think, who was telling me off - I apologised), RBFs, spiney, shrike-thrush, babblers (H), sulphurs, y/f h/es, pardies (H), Wes (H), rosies, pies, fantails (H), curras (H) - AND TWO RAPTORS DIVING OFF THE COMMS TOWER, possibly kestrels, could be falcons. [Background: I heard what I thought was a young cockatoo on the tower (squeaky gate-type call) but couldn't see it. Gave up just the second the two raptors dived off the tower - at full-speed. IMPRESSIVE!]

Fauna update: Kangaroo on the Australia Day holiday - very appropriate (driving at the time, so no photo)

Photos: Taken over 3 days (26-28 Jan) The manna gums are shedding their bark at present - looks fantastic! Yes, those are dead/dying correa bushes - the reality of 5 months of poor (or zero) rainfall. I tried to get one of a wren - came out as a small black dot in a tree (not included).

Happy writing
Bo
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Another scorcher on the way

16/1/2013

Early morning, west side

Took a day off today to see "The Hobbit." What a fabulous film! Exciting, fun, thrilling, entertaining, spectacular! Martin Freeman is a wonderful Bilbo, Andy Serkis's Gollum is superb, and Richard Armitage is a standout as Thorin. There's the fun scene with the trolls, and great tension between Thorin and the orc king he thought he'd slain. The backstory was well-done - not overdone (thank God) - just enough to understand some of the characters' emotions and decisions (particulary Thorin). The underlying menace of the rising of the Dark Lord builds the right amount of tension. The dwarves are fun and courageous, and the New Zealand, sorry, Middle-Earth, scenery is visually breath-taking - as always. Verdict: BRILLIANT!

The bird list for today: Not a lot, wrens, thornies, y/f h/e, clogs, rosellas. Heard: spiney, fantails, babblers, black cockatoos "blacks," and sulphurs. AND the reason I didn't see so many birds: the appearance of Wes (collared sparrowhawk) in a tree along the entrance road (and with a call almost like a noisy miner - HUH?)

42C tomorrow in Adelaide. 40C up here with extreme fire danger. Pray for our firefighters. It's snowing in the UK and Europe...

Stay cool for those in Oz.
Happy writing (if you can write in this heat)
Bo
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Search for an old quarry

31/12/2012

It's 2013, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

I've started the year with an adventure! No, not with Bear Grylls (I wish) but to find an old quarry on the north face of Mount Barker.

I knew it couldn't be far off the Fire Track, and it is a bit of an interesting hike (through cobwebs - bleccch!), but I made it okay to the west side. There's an easier way in, but this was much more fun (and a little nerve-wracking - keeping an eye out for those slithery creatures!)

As it's my first time, I didn't venture far, and I apologise for the quality of a couple of the pictures but wanted to include them for posterity.

THE EXCITING BIT: I found what looks like old ruins! There's certainly a concrete/stone slab there, remains of two and a bit stone walls and an old stone fence line. Certainly it looks like was "used" at some stage, perhaps during the construction of the freeway (back in the early 1970s). Really pleased at finding this!

(BLOG continues below these photos...)

I hacked back along a non-existent path and managed to link in with the circuit track - so pleased about that.

Just quickly on the bird-list: Wrens, female GW, babblers, thornbills, y/f h/es; heard: fantail, pardies, spiney. It's heating up this week, I hope they move near water (i.e. dams in the farmers' paddocks).

Writing - working on the publishers/agents query letters, reading up on Search Engine Optimisation, redesigning this website! Only a day more on this, then it's back to expanding out my next crime novel, Hell's Bells, and another slash-and-burn edit of The Fatal Span.

Happy writing
Bo
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