Hi all. Off to read last week's latest posts.
Tiger – thanks for all those great “pictures of the week”. Specially liked the Owl sequence and the look on its face when half buried – and also the “praying” Otter!
Dianne – thanks for the Blue Jays video – really striking birds. Trip out was good – not so warm as last two days, but we didn’t actually freeze. First part was taken up with long deliberations with an optics rep who showcases “try before you buy” there every two months – OH was thinking of trading in telescope for a different model, but decided to postpone and bought different eyepiece instead. We also got a second tripod - but both actually used only bench clamps today. Had soup and sandwich lunch then only went as far as nearest hide ( actually on foot, not using the scooter) and saw various Ducks, Coots, Moorhens, Oyster Catchers, etc. there was a big “fly past” of Barnacle Geese when something put them up from one of the grazing fields, and some then landed to graze next to the pond we were watching – and also a gaggle of Pink Footed Geese. In the afternoon there was a talk on ringing and satellite tagging Barnacle Geese from the Svarlbard Peninsula north of the Arctic circle in Norway and Whooper Swans from Greenland, and the information this provides towards helping with their conservation – some of it is paid for by energy companies who are trying to prove that wind farms do not interfere with birds.
Alan – thanks for various updates.
Annette – stuff I read distinguished between tornadic waterspouts and fair weather waterspouts, but still called both kinds waterspouts! More odd clouds today? I wonder what shape these are.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Didn't manage any good photos, but here's one of grazing Barnacle Geese, just to prove we really did see them!
OG: Oh my. Geese are very handsome! When certain winter winds are blowing, we get spherical, really smooth clouds that look like they came off a potter's wheel. Had a nice long walk to Lake Los Carneros but my whale counting binocs are so heavy I don't take them with me. I'll have to take the bike or drive over there with them to watch birds close up. Have got some cheap-and-cheerful binocs (an anniversary gift from a former employer) but I think I need something in between. I guess it's harder to focus with the more powerful lenses (or something like that). Will have to check it out - at some point. "Try before you buy" sounds like a good option; I'm sure there must be something similar around here. Now have to do some sorting out of books, etc, and get some laundry done so I'll have something to iron when my annual celebrity-fest starts! :-)
Annette - hope you are enjoying your evening with the rich and famous - and ironing! Had a long phonecall from Son who had his belongings delivered by our S-i-L and his friend today. They couldn't get it all in Dau's seven-seater car, even with five seats out, so looks like we'll be fetching some stuff from her house to here later this month to deliver to him when we visit in April. He seems to be quite happy with things after his first week in the job, and enjoyed his first day off today - also has Mondays , so he'll be all domestic tomorrow, unpacking and sorting out. Looking at our photos from today, it looks like we saw some Pochards among the ducks - didn't know what they were till we checked the bird book! Both took equally poorly focussed picture of the same bird - a large, attractively coloured Duck:
Off to bed soon, so good night /evening/morning all around the world.
Diane, Thank you so much for the Blue Jay link. They are such a beautiful looking bird. Re OG's comment about our jays/ squirrels planting the acorns, I wish they wouldn't try to start an oak wood in our lawn and flower beds. We seem to spend the summer uprooting yet another oak tree growing !
OG, Lovely to see your photograph of the barnacle geese. It sounds as if it was an interesting and enjoyable birding trip. We went to the coast. It all looked so lovely from the car, but oh, the wind was so cold when we started walking !
Hope you all enjoyed your Sunday
Hey Annette while you are hobnobbing with the rich & famous would you mind if I add my pile of blouses. I look at them and wonder if this will the last time ironing them until next summer.
OG - Thanks for great pics. The barnacle geese are dressed for a formal occasion !!!! What will you do with all the space now Son has taken his belongings? And has he taken all? Our Dau#2 left home years ago but we still have a drawer of stuff and a shelf of soft toys. Every now and then she comes and collects some more.
Diane & Tiger - Thanks for pic links. The owl photography is stunning. Just love the mahout with his mobile!
Showers today and cool. Yay. Soon I can drag out jumpers. Love them. On second thoughts - a pity about the rain today as the ladies at the horserace will be miserable in their flimsy summer frocks and elaborate hats. Not to mention high heels disappearing into the soft ground.
Evening all: Well, the arrivals on the red carpet have started but who are all these people? They're all 12 years old. Where's Bogey and Bacall? Cary Grant? Liz Taylor? :-) I'm more and more out of touch each year. Seriously, the "big" names don't arrive until later; I'm sorting through books so am watching with just one eye right now. If you hurry AQ, there's still time to drop the blouses off! But if you think you won't be wearing them, I'd stick them in a bag and forget about the ironing for another six months.
OG: Glad son enjoyed his first week; we still have a garage full of granddaughter's stuff. Sigh.
Back to boxes of books!
Haven’t hit the pillow yet! “Went” to look at webcams and just popped back for a last catch-up.
BrendaH – know what you mean about where the Jays and Grey Squirrels put their acorns – where we used to live, a Squirrel even ate the fruit from our strawberry tower and then planted acorns there! It was also quite windy blowing off the Firth into the windows of the hide this afternoon. The migration of the Barnacle Geese is quite a feat – and every now and again one sets a new time record. The whole summer population from Svarlbard arrives here on the Solway coast, and as well as a few reserves (LNR, NNR, WWT and RSPB), they have persuaded local farmers to manage their pastures to suit them grazing!
AQ – if you are putting the blouses away till next summer, why not wait to iron them when they come out again? ! (Don’t do today what you can put of until tomorrow.) Son used to rent a house until two years ago, now rents a studio flat. Result: we still have stuff stored in our loft and Daughter’s garage until he moves again! Pleased you have had some cool autumn showers – enjoy.
Bedtime drink ready, must go. G’night all.
Continuing SA history . . . Whalers & sealers had based themselves on Kangaroo Island 20 years before the colony was founded. In the 1840s shore-based whaling was carried out in SA waters and provided SA’s first exports. Whaling stations were at Victor Harbour and islands off the coast but soon the seas were over-fished.
Wine-making became important – the first vines being planted in 1837. Many wineries were founded by German settlers, especially in the Barossa Valley. The town of Tanunda produced Australia’s first German newspaper which lasted until it was closed down during WWI.
The first camel was imported as early as 1840. Then in 1866 Sir Thomas Elder brought in camels & their handlers and began a breeding station at Beltana. The cameleers, brought from India, Pakistan and neighbouring countries under contract, were known here as Afghans, regardless of their origin. No women were allowed to come. Some of these turbaned men returned to their homeland. Others stayed on to run their own camel strings. They lived in their own community on the outskirts of outback towns. Among them were two brothers who had 900 camels and employed 100 fellow Afghans at Marree in the Far North.
The Afghans and their camel strings were vital in taking supplies to stations through country too dry and arid for bullock or horse teams. They returned with loads of wool. Police and explorers used them to travel the outback too. Camels were also important during the installation of the Overland Telegraph, completed in 1872 to connect Adelaide and Darwin, and hence Australia, with the rest of the world. The colonies no longer had to wait for slow communication by ships.
The camels now running wild in Australia’s outback are descendants of those released when motor vehicles took over. The cameleers are remembered by the current Adelaide to Darwin train, known as the Ghan.
From 1863 the Northern Territory (with major towns Darwin & Alice Springs) was administered by SA. Large number of Chinese arrived especially after gold was found near Pine Creek. By 1879 there were 400 Europeans and 3,000 Chinese in the NT. The reference did not record how many aborigines. Many Chinese applied for naturalization in the 1880s. Many of them were cooks, gardeners, carpenters, storekeepers and fancy goods dealers or hawkers. In 1911 Commonwealth Government took over NT administration from SA.
Evening/morning all: Well, what a lacklustre show that was. Not only that, Colin Firth didn't win, though I didn't have as much trouble with Jeff Bridges winning as I did with Sandra Bullock getting Best Female Actor. Not that I've seen any of the nominated films :-) But - great treat - Lauren Bacall made a brief appearance onstage and with Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren managed to add some presence to the proceedings. In between yelling my disapproval at the telly, I managed to get all my books sorted through and have two boxes to donate to the library.
AQ: Thanks for yet more history. Found the whaling history interesting. We too had camels, brought to Texas from the Middle East n 1856 to be used as transport animals with the U.S. Army. They arrived with three Greek and two Turkish drivers (drovers?). Turned out that in spite of their advantages in the dessert, the camels' feet were too tender for the often rocky terrain, their (Anglo) owners didn't like their attitude (being used to more docile horses), and the horses didn't like them either. The survivors ended up running wild in Texas, where there's a group now called The Texas Camel Corps, which takes people on treks and participates in living history re-enactments. The Spanish padres brought wine to California in the 18th century, planting the vines at each mission they established. The first "non sacramental" wines were planted by a French settler, in the 1830s.
Anyway, off to bed. Have a nice Monday everyone.