Mandurah

Mandurah and a Malady

| paulamyes

The last 2 1/2 weeks I’ve been laid up at home with the flu. After a year of social distancing and scrupulous was of hands, the use of copious amounts of hospital grade hand sanitizer, and a flu jab I’ve gone down with the most persistent of bugs that just won’t leave me alone. Consequently I’ve been stuck at home and not up to much photographically.

Just before Christmas we managed to get away for a few days and one of those days was spent in Mandurah. It was a good place to start a trip that was to be primarily focused on bird photography. For a bit of a change I decided to leave the micro four thirds kit at home and take my Canon DSLR and relevant lenses. I did this for a number of reasons:

  1. I fancied a change
  2. With the collapse of Olympus and the future of the brand uncertain and Panasonic’s recent statements about concentrating predominantly on full frame cameras geared at video usage I felt that perhaps I should move away from micro four thirds and look at another system.
  3. Curiosity as to whether the difference between the two formats is actually that apparent in real world usage. The key board warriors on the photographic forums are so specification orientated that they have lost sight of the fact that cameras are just a tool to produce photographs not endlessly obsess over minute details that make no real world difference.
  4. I’m thinking about selling off surplus equipment and just concentrating on one system. So I was trying to decided which one was I prepared to get rid of.

Boring really for you guys, but as I’ve said I’ve been laid up at home for a couple of weeks with nothing much to think about. So without further ado here are some of the photos.

Wyan by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
White-faced heron, Ardea novaehollandiae. Mandurah, Western Australia.

 

Goegrup Lake by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Goegrup Lake Nature Reserve in the morning light.

 

Australian Pelican by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Australian Pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus. Serpentine River in Mandurah, Western Australia.

 

Ngalganing by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Nankeen Night Heron, Nycticorax caledonicus subsp mannillenis. Mandurah, Western Australia.

 

Dit by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
White-headed Stilt, Himantopus himantopus subsp. leucocephalus.

 

 

Yonka and Djudiny by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Mother and nearly fully grown joey in the Len Howard Conservation Park in Western Australia.

 

Inland Thornbill by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Inland Thornbill, Acanthiza apicalis. Len Howard Conservation Park, Western Australia.

 

Infestation by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
This bob tailed lizard, Tiliqua rugosa, has a bad tick infestation. Note the engorged female tick on the shoulder – these can grow up to 2.5cm long. There is a smaller tick above and one in the ear canal behind the jaw. Older lizards or those with lower imune responses are more prone to them.

 

Kakara by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Crested Pigeon, Ocyphaps lophotes. Len Howard Conservation Park in Western Australia.

 

Lake Geogrup by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
An observation platform on the southern end of Lake Geogrup just before it joins the Serpentine River. Mandurah, Western Australia,

 

So did I come to any conclusions? Yes – a Canon EOS 6d plus Sigma 150-600mm lens is heavy. I missed the reach of micro four thirds lenses.