Recently we had a few days in Albany on the south coast of Western Australia. The opportunity to experience a 10ºC drop in temperature was too good to miss. I wanted to go and visit an Eastern Osprey nest that I’ve visited before. When I got there it was obvious that the nest had not been used for a while. This can happen for a number of reasons – the obvious is that the birds got old and died. But there maybe other reasons such as too much competition for food resources caused them to relocate. Also the tree that they’d built the nest in was no longer the best vantage point, other trees had grown around it obscuring the view. Who knows why they up and went but it does illustrate the fact that where wildlife is concerned nothing is guaranteed.
We headed out to a new location – a bird hide out at Rushy Point. Nice location but nothing was happening. Things were beginning to get a bit desperate. As we drove around there were all these road hazard signs warning about wildlife and yet we were’t seeing anything. By the last day I was feeling decidedly jacked off. It was a grotty day weather wise – windy with intermittent rain.
Warning – kangaroos. Albany, Western Australia.
Warning – turtles. Albany, Western Australia.
Warning – bandicoots. Albany, Western Australia.
Warning – pensioners. Albany, Western Australia.
Come the afternoon we were sitting around killing time and I just wanted to get out and have a walk. Despite the weather I headed off to Lake Seppings just to walk around it as something to do. Out of habit I picked up my camera and took it with me. When I got out of the car I received a very enthusiastic welcome from a lady in the carpark wanting to know if I was there to photography the blue billed ducks. I said I would photograph anything that showed up and stood still long enough. I set out with very little expectation of finding anything worth pointing the camera when almost immediately I saw some blue ducks. I always have a feeling of anxiety when I go out to photograph, a fear of not finding anything. Getting the first image under my belt and breaking the duck (sorry about the pun) helps me relax and enjoy myself. I knew the shots wouldn’t be any great shakes, it was just important to get the process underway.Two hours I got back to the car, wet but happy that I’d seen some wildlife and managed to photograph it.
Boodoo or Blue-billed Duck (Oxyura australis). Lake Seppings, Western Australia.
Bandiny or New Holland Honeyeater, (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae). Lake Seppings, Western Australia.
An immature male Red-winged fairywren (Malarus elegans), called Djoordilya by the Nyoongar of south west Western Australia. Lake Seppings, Western Australia.
Koolyidarang or Elegant Parrot (Neophema elegans). Lake Seppings, Western Australia.
An adult Australian white ibis (Threskioris molucca) feeding a juvenile. Lake Seppings, Western Australia.
Wandy or King’s Skink (Egernia kingii). Lake Seppings, Western Australia.
Bardinar or Western Rosella (Platycercus icterotis subs icteratis). Lake Seppings, Western Australia.
Djindjokoor or Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta). Lake Seppings, Western Australia.
Forrestdale Lake (originally Lake Jandakot, it was renamed in 1973) lies within the Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve which is about 25 kilometres south of the Perth CBD on the southern fringes of the Perth metropolitan area. The lake is shallow and seasonal with a large area 220 to 245 hectares of open water when full. In June or July, Lake Forrestdale starts to fill, and about the end of September, it reaches its maximum depth which is somewhere between 200 and 500mm depending upon the winter rains and it usually dries out by mid-summer. That was not always the case as the lake used to hold a lot more water than it does now, and some years it did not dry up at all. Diminishing rainfall, and ground water extraction from government and private bores are some of the reasons for the lake’s decreasing water levels.
Before white fellas came Lake Forrestdale was a special place for the Whadjuk Nyoongar who camped around its shores and hunted long-necked turtles, waterfowl and their eggs; koonacs and gilgies, possums, kangaroos, quendas and many other animals that are now locally extinct. The first white settlers were William and Alfred Skeet in 1885 and they had a licence to fell and sell timber. Shortly after most of the land around the lake was cleared for farming and grazing despite that the lake continued to be a major breeding site, migration stop-over and semi-permanent drought refuge area for waterbirds so in 1957 the lake was gazetted as an “A” class nature reserve for the conservation of flora and fauna and to provide a location for recreational sailing. On 7 June 1990, along with Thomsons Lake 10 kilometres to the west, it designated under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance and both lakes form the Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes Ramsar Site. It’s easy to see why. More than 20,000 waterbirds have been recorded on Forrestdale Lake. It regularly supports more than 1% of the national population of five shorebirds: red-capped plover (with up to 1,300 recorded at any one time), black-winged stilt (3,840), red-necked avocet (1,113), long-toed stint (up to 80), and curlew sandpiper (2,000). In some years it supports more than 10,000 ducks, including Australian shelduck (up to 1,650 counted), Pacific black duck (5,500), grey teal (9,000), Australasian shoveler (2,000), and hardhead (1,053). The lake is one of the few sites in Western Australia where little ringed plover and little stint have been recorded more than once, and it is the only location in the state where white-rumped sandpiper has been recorded. A comprehensive list of all the bird species seen at the reserve can be seen at eBird Australia.
The entyrance to the Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve.
So when BSO (Beloved Significant Other) announced she was mounting a campaign to achieve croquet world domination I would use the opportunity of a weekend in Perth to have a gander at Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve. So a quick peruse of the interwebs told me that the best place to start was was at the parking bay at the Skeet Memorial Park on Moore Street in Armadale. There I would find a comprehensive information board about the area and would also give me quick access to the bird observation platform. Having read all about all the different birds that use the lake I was expecting a birding nirvana. Unfortunately we’d had a dry winter and the water line was a good 600m from the platform which meant I had Buckley’s chance of seeing any water birds up close and personal.
The bird observation platform at Forrestdale Lake.
Fall back plan was to walk around the lake and just photograph what I found on the way. Once you leave the main entrance area there is little signage except for the keep out variety which is attached to the continuous fence designed to, funnily enough, keep people out. It was quite a frustrating experience – I could hear plenty of bird activity on the other side of the fence but I had no way of getting closer. For much of the walk you are in a narrow corridor of about 5 or 6 metres between two substantial fences with signs saying you are under surveillance – it’s hardly a nature experience. I’ve been to military bases which are more friendly. I feel this is a hugely wasted opportunity. Thomson’s Lake is much more accessible to visitors, and the Spectacles also makes much of it Aboriginal cultural significance. I’ve written previously that if people are having less and less opportunities to interact with nature that will create an antipathy towards the natural world and consequently they will cease to care about it. So to get people to be more aware of environmental issues they must be encouraged to reconnect with nature. There is very little opportunity for the casual visitor to interact with all that Forrestdale Lake offers so in many ways it defeats its stated purpose of raising public awareness about the importance of this chain of wetlands. Normally I am very positive about these types of reserves and have written about them in the past in glowing terms. I don’t like being negative or critical, but I really do feel that this is a waste of resources.
One of the many signs that warn you about unauthorised access.
The fence that rings the lake preventing unauthorised access.
Big brother is in full surveillance mode at Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve.
Can I recommend the place as worth a visit? If you want a a bit of a walk with a nature experience then I would suggest that are better places and I’ve written about quite a few of them. If you are a die hard birder then I’d find out what the water levels are before visiting. There is little point in visiting if there is no water in the lake.
Red Wattlebird, Anthochaera carunculata subspecies woodwardi, at Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve.
White-headed Stilt, Himantopus himantopus subsp. leucocephalus, Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve.
Grey fantail, Rhipdiura albiscapa, Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve.
Grey Butcherbird, Cracticus torquatus, Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve.
Oh and BSO (Beloved Significant Other had a better time of it than I did and achieved world croquet domination – well she won the State Mixed Doubles for Golf Croquet.
2020 Croquetwest GC State Mixed Doubles. Forest Park Croquet Club, Mount Lawley, Western Australia.
2020 Croquetwest GC State Mixed Doubles. Forest Park Croquet Club, Mount Lawley, Western Australia.
I’d gone to Locke Nature Reserve near Busselton looking for common helmet and midge orchids, but they weren’t flowering. This Western Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria griseogularis) and its mate kept darting in and out of the bush as I walked along the track so I photographed them instead.
This nature photography lark is a lot harder than it looks. I follow a couple of YouTube channels from the UK that weekly show the host going out to some location to photograph and /or film a particular animal or plant. They always find it and always get good images. My experience is a bit different to that. I find that you can go out with all the best intentions in the world, but if nature isn’t playing ball then you don’t get anything. I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve set out to look for the Cleopatra’s Needles Orchid (Thelymitra apiculata) driving 100’s of kilometres to find absolutely nothing. Take last weekend. We were down in the South West of Western Australia as my partner was again playing in a croquet tournament. So I’d researched what was about in terms of birds and orchids and set out to several locations with a specific list of what I wanted to photograph. The first stop was Malbup Creek Bird Hide where I wanted to see tawny frogmouths and white-bellied sea-eagles. Well I spent a nice morning at the hide without seeing them. I did get a nice shot of a shelduck and the local kangaroos were hamming it up for a photo.
Not the white-bellied sea-eagle I was looking for. Still he’s a very handsome Australian Shelduck.
No tawny frogmouths to be seen let alone be photographed. The Western Grey Kangaroos were keen to oblige.
The next stop was Locke Nature Reserve looking for common helmet and midge orchids. Well after a couple of hours of scrabbling around in the undergrowth fighting off the unwanted attentions of the local mosquitoes I’d found lots of them, but none in flower. There were some Splendid Fairywrens in the nearby bushes but they really didn’t want their picture taken and kept dancing out of the way every time I got close. On the walk back to the car a couple of Western Yellow Robins flew slightly ahead of me. They would stop and perch periodically and I was lucky enough to grab a few frames.
My last spot was Westbay in Augusta looking for scented autumn leek orchids. Now I’d seen them before at this location and knew where to go. They weren’t there. Not a one was to be seen. But I did find some autumn leek orchids – close enough so I photographed them. Funnily enough the autumn leek orchid has a much more pleasant scent than the scented variety which has decidedly unpleasant pong.
Autumn Leek Orchid, Prasophyllum parvifolium. Westbay, Augusta, Western Australia
So there you have it another rewarding trip. I may not have found what I was looking for but I found other things and really enjoyed my time in the bush and that is what it is all about.
* This weeks musical reference is of course U2’s song I Still Haven’t Found. My favourite version is the one on 1988’s Rattle and Hum album.
Young kids on the Avon Walk Trail in York, Western Australia. Sony A7r with Voigtlander 35mm f2.5 Color Skopar lens mounted via a Fotodiox DLX Stretch Leica M to NEX mount adapter. Exposure: 1/200th sec, f5.6 at ISO 100.
Most morning I walk the dog along the Avon River and regular readers will have seen some of the photos I’ve taken while doing so. We walk past this garden which is home to a sheep, an alpaca and these two kids. The kids are about four times the size from when we first met them. Frida is fascinated by them as they come to the fence and prance about. They certainly aren’t scared of her. The male puts his head to the wire and Frida does the same, generally they just push but sometimes they gently but each other all while the alpaca watches on disapprovingly.
Frida modelling patiently while I test my Olympus m.Zuiko 45mm f18 lens. Exposure: 1/80 sec f1.8 ISO 1600.Just revelling in the bokeh of the Olympus m.Zuiko 45mm f1.8 mm lens. I’m not a bokeh slut by any means, but occasionally you just have to do it to get out of your system.
On the Tasmanian Savannah the elephants, despite the best efforts of the Zebra, went off in a huff.
Not many people realise that the scope of Tasmania’s wildlife and fauna far exceeds that of the Australian mainland. Where I live we are close to the Tasmanian Savannah which has an abundance of big game animals that are usually associated with Africa. The animals here though are particularly fond of Christmas, and every year if you know where to go, you can observe them going about their Christmas celebrations.
All in all considering how much sherry was in the trifle everyone was remarkably well-behaved.
Just like us humans the animals experience Christmas in the same way. Some times family tensions can boil over and harsh words are said and inevitably some one takes offence and heads off home early. Alcohol is always a big problem for the animals – if too much sherry is added to the truffle then you better watch out as a tiddly elephant or silverback gorilla can wreak havoc. But Christmas is really about the kids and seeing them so happy is really what makes Christmas so special.
Timmy the baby elephant found Christmas so exciting he couldn’t contain himself.
The animals on the Tasmanian Savannah are a little different from humans with regards to the Christmas story. They do not of course believe in Santa Claus. For them the Christmas Zebra is the bringer of good cheer and presents, and the children all pester their parents for weeks wanting to know when the Zebra is coming and if they have been good enough to get presents.
The Christmas Zebra
So I hope that everyone had a good Christmas this year, and apart from the incident with the elephants, the animals of the Tasmanian Savannah certainly did.
In my last entry I mentioned that I would be going to Esperance, on the the south coast of Western Australia (next stop Antarctica!) and I’ve now returned home and have chance to process the pictures and reflect on the experience.
Twilight Beach, Esperance, Western Australia. Olympus EP2 and OLYMPUS M.12-50mm F3.5-6.3 lens.
Firstly I would like to say that this was not a photographic expedition, it was a holiday with a major focus on bush walking. Walking has been a big part of my life since my mid teens and I feel it is an excellent way to explore, to reconnect with myself and nature, and see things I might otherwise not see. Generally my long suffering partner is encouraging in my photographic endeavours but the one area which is an exception is when bushwalking as she hates hanging around while I fiddle around taking pictures. Fair enough. In 1986 we went to the Greek Island of Thira, more popularly known as Santorini. I took two SLRs, flash, filter system and a swag of lenses and fifty rolls of film in a shoulder bag. We decided to walk round the island, it is only small, but very quickly I wished that I had not got that stupid bag with me. It was a salutary lesson and ever since I’ve explored light weight alternatives and different ways of carrying. So my camera of choice was my Olympus EP-2. The EP-2 packs into a small bag (20cm x 18cm x 10 cm) and in that I can fit the camera, six batteries, 72GB of SD cards, two polarising filters, two variable neutral density filters, a SEMA-1 microphone and two zoom lenses that gives me the full frame equivalent of 24 – 300 mm coverage. I’ve found that I can shoot multiple exposure panoramics handheld and get reasonable results. The big let down for this trip was that I took no camera support so the handheld video footage I shot has been filed in the bin.
Lake Warden Wetlands Reserve, Esperance, Western Australia. Olympus EP-2 with OLYMPUS M.12-50mm F3.5-6.3 lens. Image created in Lightroom 3 with Niksoft HDR Efx Pro 2 and Silver Efx Pro 2.
Who, What, Where, When and Why
Esperance is a medium sized Aussie country town and is blessed with 16 beaches that are picture perfect and excellent for all manner of beach pursuits and are widely reputed to be the best in Australia. All but one of them are dog friendly. It is quite an isolated place and it is therefore very likely that you’ll able to get a beach to yourself. We didn’t go for the beaches but for Cape Le Grand National Park.
A bit of history about the area. Twenty thousand years ago the indigenous people of the south west of what is now Western Australia, the Wudjari group of the Nyoongar, inhabited the land they called “Kepakurl” or the place where the sea lies like a boomerang. It was a region blessed with a good climate, plenty of water and an abundance of wildlife and consequently they did not feel the need to roam very far. In 1627 a Dutch ship, the Gulden Zeepaerdt, captained by François Thijssen, sailed through the islands off the coast and so began the colonial era. In 1792 the next European visitors were two French ships, the Recherche and l’Esperance, under the command of Admiral Antoine Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, took shelter from a storm which nearly wrecked both ships. One of the crew, an officer by the name of Le Grand had spotted the anchorage and so it was named after him. In 1802 Matthew Flinders on HMS Investigator was charting the southern coastline of Australia and sailed through the Bay of Isles claiming it for King and country before those “Johnny foreigner” types could claim it for themselves. While sheltering from a storm he and his crew explored the area and named Lucky Bay, because they found safe anchorage there, and Thistle Cove after a Mr Thistle who was one of the crew. In the 1870’s the townsite of Esperance was established and the rest as they say is history.
Thistle Cove, Cape Le Grand National Park, Western Australia. Olympus EP-2 with OLYMPUS M.12-50mm F3.5-6.3 lens. HDR panorama of 12 shots blended using a combination of Photoshop CS5 and Niksoft HDR Efex Pro 2.
Cape Le Grand National Park is 631 km (392 miles) south-east of Perth and 56 km (35 miles) east of Esperance. Established in 1966 the park covers an area of 31,801 hectares (78,600 acres) and is made up of coastal heathland made up of dense thickets of showy banksia (Banksia speciosa) on the sand flats and scrub banksia (Banksia pulchella) on the gravel outcrops. This is punctuated by granite and gneiss peaks. There are beautiful bays with the most amazing white beaches where the sand squeaks underfoot, and the sea is the most breathtaking turquoise blue in colour. The most spectacular scenery is found in the south eastern corner of the park where is a chain of peaks that includes Mount Le Grand, Frenchman Peak and Mississippi Hill.
A mother and Joey from the famous mob of kangaroos that frequent the beach at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park. Olympus EP-2 with OLYMPUS M.40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R lens. Exposure 1/4000 s at f/5.6 ISO 200.
All up the park is home to 1169 different species of animal and plant. The native mammals include western pygmy-possum, quenda, black flanked wallaby, bush rats, and honey possums. The park is a bit of a twitcher’s paradise with 110 species of birds and while there we saw a white-bellied sea-eagle, numerous types of wattlebirds, a wedged tailed eagle, emu, cuckoo shrikes, crested pigeon, and bronze wings.
Lucky Bay, Cape Le Grand National Park, Western Australia. Olympus E-P2, OLYMPUS M.12-50mm F3.5-6.3 lens, and circular polarising filter. Exposure 1/200 s at f/8.0 ISO 100.
There are a number of walks to do. The Coastal Trail is a 15Km (9.3 miles) one way trail that takes about 8 hours to complete. It has also been divided up into four sections. We chose to walk from Lucky Bay to Thistle Cove. Lucky Bay is famed as having the most beautiful beaches in Australia and somewhat incongruously you can as we did see kangaroos on the sandy beach. There is a campsite there with gas barbecues, toilets, picnic areas, water, and shade shelters. We chose to stay in Esperance rather than camp this time. The walk trail is clearly marked out and takes you round the headland giving views over the bays and inlets. I saw a pod of six dolphins playing in on of the inlets and I stayed and watched them until they decided to swim back out to sea. As you get to Thistle Cove there is a picnic table in the lee of a large rock that looks like an enormous mitten standing on end which provides a bit of necessary shade while you sit and take in your surroundings. Matthew Flinders thought that Thistle Cove was even better than Lucky Bay, I’m not sure I would agree but it is a very beautiful spot.
Frenchman Peak is a 262 metre granite outcrop that is part of a chain in the south-west of Cape Le Grand National Park. Olympus EP-2 with OLYMPUS M.12-50mm F3.5-6.3 lens. 15 exposure HDR panoramic created with a combination of Photoshop CS5 and Niksoft HDR Efx Pro2.
As mentioned earlier there are several peaks to bag; Mount Le Grand at 345 metres (1132 feet), Mississippi Hill 180 metres (590 feet), and Frenchman Peak at 262 metres(860 feet). Frenchman Peak was our choice as it has a clearly marked track to the top which is 3km or 1.8 miles return which is graded as hard and not recommended on wet and/or windy day. The peak did not get its name from the early French explorers but rather from explorer and prominent colonist John Forrest who passed through the area in 1870, in search of good country for pasture. The peak got its name because his brother, surveyor Alexander Forrest, thought its profile resembled a man wearing a Frenchman’s cap. The Aboriginal name for the peak was Mandooboornup and was a significant site for them. The Department of Parks and Wildlife who administer the park describe the route as being up the easy angled east slope. A better description to my mind would be up the not as hard east slope. At times the pitch of the slope is very steep, but thankfully the rock surface is very grippy in the dry and given a good pair of shoes and plenty of time it is very doable. The result is worth it as you’ll be rewarded with be rewarded with magnificent panoramic views of the park and islands in the Recherche Archipelago. The top of the peak has been eroded to form deep arch or cave which is not immediately obvious from looking up from the base and swallows make their nests in its walls and can be seen chasing insects as you climb up. The cave was formed 40 million years ago in the Eocene when sea levels were 300 metres (984 feet) higher than they are now and the top of the peak was under water. I don’t know about you but the geologic timescale just boggles my mind.
The walktrail up Frenchman Peak is a hard steep 3Km return walk. Cape Le Grand National Park.Views of the park and islands in the Recherche Archipelago from the top of Frenchman Peak. Cape Le Grand National Park, Western Australia. Olympus EP-2 with OLYMPUS M.12-50mm F3.5-6.3 lens.The cave on top of Frenchman Peak, Cape Le Grand National Park.
Did we enjoy our visits? Are the Kennedy’s gun shy? We will certainly visit again and aim to spend more time in the park, but we will go earlier in the spring so we can see more of the wildflowers and maybe even see some whales.
One of the famous kangaroos that frequent the beach at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park. Olympus EP-2 with OLYMPUS M.40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R lens. Exposure: 1/2500 s at f/5.6 at ISO 200.
As always clicking on an image will take you through to my gallery for print purchases.
Here at the global headquarters of Paul Amyes Photography – cough- life has become very hectic with the arrival of Frida our new Bull Terrier pup.
Who’s a gorgeous girl?
We got her from KUPALA BULL TERRIERS in Queensland and she has a better pedigree than the Queen Elizabeth II. We’ve had her now for 3 weeks and she has quickly made herself at home.
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