Magpie round-up

(Or, alternatively, selections from four months of taking pictures of Australian magpies.)

I love Australian magpies, Cracticus tibicen. I love hearing their calls when I wake up in the morning, I love hearing their weight as they land on the roof and the noisy flapping of their wings when they fly close overhead, I love watching them pick bugs (and hopefully spiders) out of the grass, or walking casually by the side of the road when you ride by, sometimes scampering a little bit when you get close, and I love seeing them stalk fearlessly across the yard when I'm hanging the laundry.  (And running: especially the running, but watching pretty much any kind of bird running is always enjoyable.)

But!  That said, it's time to be careful, because we're getting into the danger zone season: spring.  August (late) to October (early), when magpies get aggressive to humans during nesting season.  I recently met someone who was once attacked by a magpie, so it does happen (though he prefaced the story by telling me how much he loves them too, so no hard feelings).  Maybe it's time to paint some eyes on the back of my head.

Wispy clouds, Oz style.

(Will write a real post tomorrow.)

Gara Gorge in Winter

Last Sunday we took a picnic lunch and an afternoon bushwalk at Gara Gorge in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. It was considerably less green than the last time we were there a few months ago.  Overall a bit gray, with the exception of these one type of wattle or acacia tree. (Feather wattle? Not sure what it is exactly, but you could tell they were all the same thing because they were the only green things.) (I will probably never know for sure.)

(This pied currawong doesn't like you looking at him but I couldn't resist.)

The scenery has become a bit monochromatic in the winter

(Except for these bright green trees.)

The difference is startling--looking back I had forgotten how lush and green everything seemed three months ago.  It seems like it's been winter for a long time... (about ten months, to be exact.)

Then... (April)

...and now.

We didn't see very much wildlife for most of the hike; lunch by the lake was accompanied by ducks and some loud amphibians (assumedly frogs), and of course currawongs and magpies and a couple noisy miners, but once we left the picnic area it was pretty quiet.  Once in a while there was the chitter-chattering of these tiny birds, always clustered in small groups. They are unbelievably small--so tiny they can hang upside down from the thin, feathery leaves.  (Reid reminded me that we also saw some other tiny birds, so tiny they were hopping on the thick algae on top of a pond, walking on water.  I think they might have been fairy wrens, but either way: so tiny!)

Towards the end of our walk we also saw some white-eared honeyeaters, and then a kangaroo, bounding across the hill.  It's always really cool when you can see them jumping for a longer period of time; they're always surprisingly graceful, and utterly silent.

Lichenostomus leucotis

Australian Post feat. Echidna

No blog writing today, just a picture of a drawing of a very peculiar creature.  Monotremes sure are the strangest things.  (Thanks, Australia, for having lots of weird things.)

(Apologies for the Queen Elizabeth ones we sent in the mail; Queenie E's not nearly as exciting as these little guys.)

Rainbow.. bright

Yesterday there was the brightest rainbow I think I have ever seen. I left Saumarez Homestead in the afternoon and it immediately began to sprinkle (much to my chagrin). The sprinkle turned into full-on rain, but the downpour stopped when I reached the sealed road at the airport.  The clouds rolled away, the sun came out... and the sky began to shine.

The rainbow stayed with me the rest of the way home.  It may have been a cold and wet winter afternoon, but it was one of the best bike rides ever.  Somewhat fortuitously, I think, Reid left work early and saw it on his drive from Uralla as well.  He agreed: a first-class rainbow.  (Good enough to even blog about.)

Snow in July

Rather unexpectedly, it snowed this morning.  The sun came out, it clouded up and snowed some more, repeat.  (The flowers outside did not seem too happy about this change in the weather.)

It also hailed earlier in the week, which apparently is colloquially called "sago snow" due to the fact that it looks like the seeds of the sago palm, but the hail seems much less interesting than actual snow in Australia (outside the Snowy Mountains and Tasmania of course).

Today, the second snowfall accumulated more than the first and the third combined, but everything evaporated pretty much instantaneously when the sun came out.  It's been a bit fresh* these past couple days, but it looks like it's going to be warm next week!

*Fresh is also a new weather term for us.  I don't know if I ever used this or heard it in American English. In addition to general temperatures, it also seems to be used to describe winds that specifically are somewhat more brisk than moderate.

I do not really know what "snowfalls clearing" is supposed to mean, exactly.

I took a picture of the blowing snow on our street but as to be expected, the snow itself is nearly impossible to see it looks like just another dreary day in Armidale NSW.  Because I feel like my blog posts are boring without a picture, here is a picture of the weather forecast instead.  Yes, that's right, we're looking forward to "warm" weather with highs in the teens (upper 50s Fahrenheit.)  Enjoy your summer!

The Sydney Weekender: feat. Hop Cannon

A couple weeks ago the Hop Cannon made its debut at New England Brewing Company.  A hop cannon is just a steel container that you stuff full of whole dried hops and circulate the wort from the tank through for some intense dry hopping action. (At least I'm pretty sure that's the simplest way to describe it--Reid will correct me if I'm wrong.)

Also, New England Brewing (and specifically, the hop cannon) was featured on the Sydney Weekender Destination NSW Regional Special!  You can check it out and watch the clip here.

Yarrowyck Nature Reserve

Today we drove up to Mount Yarrowyck Nature Reserve, roughly a 40-minute drive west of Armidale via Bundarra Road.  The reserve protects an Aboriginal rock art site with a 3km round-trip trail to the site. It was a very quiet and tranquil winter day, cool when the wind was blowing but hot in the sun when it wasn't.

The short trail led through the typical rocky bush you see around these parts.  It was very quiet--hardly even any birds were calling, just the sound of the wind through the dry eucalyptus trees.  We encountered a couple other families and small groups along the way.  The small parking lot was actually quite full, people out and about enjoying the sunny weekend weather.

The rock art site is really pretty cool.  Unfortunately, they don't really know much about it--what the original intention of who created it or what if any purpose it might have served, or even how old it is. (Estimation is 150 to 500 years.)  Looking at it really provoked interesting thoughts about human history and human nature.

It was a little cooler going downhill: the wind seemed a bit more fresh on the way back to the car.  Then we saw a wallaby... snapped a couple photos before the camera battery died.  He poked up his head for a little while and then disappeared again into the grasses.

Byron Bay Beach Resort, Selected Photos

Downstairs rooms

Bicycles available to rent

Back entrance to the kitchen and upstairs from the parking lot

You would not believe how soft this buddy is...

Rainbow snake floor mosaic

Upstairs hammock (there were hammocks by all the rooms.)

Yellow kitchen.. we felt right at home with that color.

Every time I had to get something out of the fridge, Xing Ling and her strawberry made me smile.

Upstairs rooms; cat on a (warm) tin roof.

Along the street, the Belongil Bistro next door

Eucalypt in the backyard barbeque area (sans brush turkey)