It is often said that a good photographer makes pictures not takes them. So this week I was well prepared, unlike last week. I’d packed everything the night before, checked the weather forecast and made the right clothing choices. I’d worked out what species I was going to photograph and how. I knew exactly how I was going to process the images on return home. What could possibly go wrong? As it turned out plenty. Firstly the weather didn’t play ball – I’d wanted mist rising off the water. When I got up there was mist, as I was driving there was plenty of mist, but when I got to Lake Leschenaultia there was absolutely no mist at all. I was looking to photograph and video three species – spotless crakes, Australian reed warblers and Australasian grebes. The birds didn’t get the memo and were a no-show. To cap it all the video head on my tripod broke so that meant shooting any video was out of the question.
At this stage it would have been very tempting to go home, but I was there and it was a beautiful morning so I decided to make the most of it by walking round the lake. As I made my way round I happened on a few chance encounters, but, when I left to go home I didn’t think I’d made anything worthwhile and I felt a little despondent. So as I looked at the images on the computer I was pleasantly surprised – out of the nearly forty images I had taken four stood out and after processing them I was quite happy. They’re not masterpieces by any means, but they made me happy and that’s all that matters.
Bandiny or New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae). Lake Leschenaultia, Western Australia.
Nembing or Common Bronzewing, (Phaps chalcoptera). Lake Leschenaultia, Western Australia.
Yongka or Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus) wondering what I’m up to. Lake Leschenaultia, Western Australia.
Time to head home. Wayan or White-faced Heron (Ardea novaehollandiae). Lake Leschenaultia, Western Australia.
By Western Australian standards it is freezing – well 2ºC – and just after dawn. I find myself sitting in a reed bed wondering why I abandoned a nice warm bed to be wet and cold.
Waradja or Spotless Crake (Porzana tabuensis). Lake Leschenaultia, Western Australia. A bit of a grab shot. It was taken with a geriatric Canon EOS 300d and an equally old Canon EF 75-300mm lens. Unfortunately the bird moved too quickly and the camera’s autofocus system wasn’t able to keep up.
Well the answer to that is four weeks ago I was here at Lake Leschenaultia mucking about with an old camera and lens when I spotted a small bird in the reeds that I’d not seen before. I grabbed a quick photo but it disappeared back into the reeds before I could properly sort myself out. When I got home I identified the bird from the blurry grab shot as a Waradja or spotless crake. Since then I’d been full of good intentions to go back and try to get a better photo, but,they were sabotaged by a great deal of procrastination until the other day when I’d decided to resurrect an old favourite camera of mine – the original Canon EOS 5d from 2005. The original batteries had perished and would no longer hold a charge so I got a set of replacements and found a couple of memory cards at the back of a drawer. I just needed something to point it at, and that is when I remembered the spotless crake.
A flotilla of Ngoonan or Australasian grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae) came to check out what I was doing.
After a quick shufti they headed off to the centre of lake.
Things had changed considerably in the ensuing four weeks. There had been a lot of rain and the water levels had risen considerably. So much so that the area where I saw the bird was now under water. The other thing that had changed was that there was a lot of noisy building work going on – and when I mean noisy I mean really loud. Combine this with the cold and it was no surprise that there were no birds on the lake, not even the Eurasian Coots. Undeterred I parked myself in among the reeds as close as I could to the place where I’d seen the spotless crake and just waited. Some large jarrah trees cast their shade over me so I didn’t get the warming effect of the rising sun. After a couple of hours a flotilla of Australasian Grebes approached and gave me the once over and then made off to centre of lake to be in the sun. By now I was really cold and miserable. It was obvious that the spotless crakes weren’t going to put in an appearance so I decided to walk down the other side of the lake to warm up in the sun and restore some feeling back to my feet.
This Kakak or little pied cormorant (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos)was glad to see me move as I was disturbing its morning.
As walked past the dam wall I could hear the commotion of a whole heap of passerine birds moving through the forest understory. There were New Holland Honeyeaters, assorted thornbills, grey fantails and weebills. But, what really caught my attention were the splendid fairy wrens chasing insects at the waters edge. They were chasing small insects and occasionally they would perch on an old log or tree stump. For text twenty minutes or so I just took photos of them and then as quick as you like they were gone.
Bandiny or New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) was one of the small passerine birds flitting about in the understory.
Djer-djer or Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens)catching the warmth of the sun.
Time out from chasing insects.
Is a splendid fairy wren on a log worth an invisible spotless crake in the reed beds ? Yes it was this time.
Well the garden has sprung into action like a very springy thing. The bees are busy with all the flowers, butterflies are flitting from bloom to bloom. The birds are getting really active. The usual inhabitants, the White Browed Babblers and the New Holland Honeyeaters are in a frenzy of nest building/repairs and generally chasing each other round the garden. We’ve got a new family moved in. A pair of Rufous Whistlers have built a nest in our peppercorn tree and can be regularly seen foraging for insects in the garden beds. The other day there was a commotion – all the small birds were squawking loudly. At first I thought it was the neighbours cat, but when I went outside to have a look I saw this blur descend out of the skies, level off just before hitting the ground and dash back up onto the TV aerial. It was a Nankeen Kestrel feeding off of small skinks and geckos that were foolish enough to sun themselves. The kestrel spent about 30 minutes repeating the behaviour until it flew off. Who needs to go on a wildlife safari with all this happening.
Although considered a pest the cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) is the most conspicuous butterfly in Western Australia and is a sure sign that spring has arrived.
The eponymous New Holland Honeyeaters can be seen feeding off the Geraldton Wax and grevilleas. They are quite territorial and aggressive and they chase each other around incessantly.
One of ever increasing number of White Browed Babblers eating grubs.
The rufous whistlers have made a nest in our peppercorn tree and can be regularly seen foraging in the garden for insects.
A Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides cenchroides) perching on our TV aerial watching for prey. York, Western Australia.
A Buchanan’s Snake-eyed Skink (Cryptoblepharus buchananii) sunning itself on the trellis of our patio.
* today’s blog title is a quote from the 1975 film Royal Flash which I went and saw on release at the Chichester fleapit I mean Granada Cinema. It was a spectacularly bad film and its only redeeming feature was that it gave work to some actors who would have otherwise been unemployed. The Observer’s review of it said “leaves one breathless not so much with enchantment as with boredom”. It shows how bad it is in that it has never been resurrected as a cult classic that only connoisseurs could enjoy. That I can quote lines from the film is testimony to the fact that I grew up in a town where there was very little in the way of entertainment for young people.
The ubiquitous New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae), New Victoria Dam, Korung National Park, Western Australia.
Over the last few days my FaceBook feed has been seeing some seriously tasty bird photos from one of the groups that I belong to. The photos all come from one area– New Victoria Dam which is 30Km east of Perth on the Darling Range in Korung National Park. So when the Beloved Significant Other (BSO) announced she was competing in a croquet competition at a location just 20 minutes drive away I immediately volunteered myself as driver.
There are two starting points to the walk and which you choose will largely depend upon when you visit. If you visit outside of office hours Monday to Friday or anytime at the weekend then y ou have to use the upper carpark as your start point as the access road is shut. During office hours you can drive down to the lower carpark keeping in mind that if stay till after 5pm then you won’t be able to drive out. I started at the upper carpark which only adds 800m each way to the walk. The walk consists of a 7Km round trip down past the New Victoria Dam to the Old Victoria dam wall and the garden and picnic area. There used to be a path through the trees at the edge of the road but it has become quite overgrown and indistinct so you are best walking along the access road. As you walk down the road on your left is the gravesite of Francis Weston who died in 1876 aged two days, his parents lived in the timber workers settlement at Bickley. When you get to the lower carpark walk through it and then follow the trail markers. After walking through the forest you come to New Victoria Dam. Walk down the steps and at the bottom turn right onto the road and walk down to the remains of the Old Victoria Dam.
The gravesite of Francis Westson who died in 1876 aged two days. His parents lived in the timber workers settlement at Bickley.
The steps down to the New Victoria Dam.
The original dam was built in 1891 and pumped water via pipelines to Kings Park and a reservoir there on Mount Eliza. The dam became the first permanent water source for Perth and was operated by the private City of Perth Waterworks Company. As the water catchment area took in agricultural land and timber settlements there were fears that it would be polluted by raw sewage and excrement from livestock. Between 1895 and 1900 typhoid broke out in Perth and 425 people died. The water was tested and found to be contaminated so the government took control and made changes to prevent re-occurrence. By 1988 the concrete structure was beginning to degrade to such an extent it could no longer be repaired so in 1990 work on the new dam commenced and because of the use of roller compacted concrete it was completed by the following year. It can hold 9.5 million kilo-litres and is used to supply drinking water to Kalamunda and Lesmurdie.
The wall of the old Victoria dam and the garden beside it.
In the lee of the old dam there is a grassed picnic area and toilets. Thickets of ti-tree and one-sided bottlebrush or claw flower have been planted and the thick vegetation along the creek line provides dense cover for a number of bird species. On this trip I used the picnic gazebo as an impromptu bird hide and spent a couple of hours watching the various birds feed and drink. I sawred-eared firetails, mistletoe birds, splendid fairy wrens, western spinebills, new holland honeyeaters, white faced herons and rosellas. The dam spillway feeds water to the pond and creek that provides a year round water supply which means that the birds are always active all here. If you are there at dawn or dusk then kangaroos can be seen feeding on the grass. It is a great little spot and doesn’t require too much effort to get there.
Red-eared Firetail (Stagonopleura oculata), New Victoria Dam, Korung National Park, Western Australia.
White Faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae), New Victoria Dam, Korung National Park, Western Australia.
Male Musk duck (Biziura labata) at Lake Seppings, Albany, Western Australia. Olympus OMD EM1 mk ii with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens. Exposure: 1/1000 sec, f6.3, ISO 1600 with +0.7 stops exposure compensation
Anastasis – from Ancient Greek ἀνάστασις (anástasis, “resurrection”).
A funny name for a blog post about Lake Seppings in Albany, Western Australia, but it does describe what happened.
Australian Pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus, Lake Seppings, Western Australia. Olympus OMD EM1 mk ii with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f4-6.3 lens. Exposure 1/1000, f10, ISO 200.
Way back in the Nyittiny (creation times) the spirit Djrat walked on the earth and created south coast of Western Australia and as he walked he left a footprint which filled with water and created a freshwater lake 1.1 Km long and 400m wide. The Minang group of the Nyoongar called this place Tjuirtgellong or “place of the long necked turtle” which was an important food source for them in the summer months. The lake was surrounded by a variety of vegetation. Fringing the lake are bullrushes, sedges, and reeds reeds. Further back were Western Australian peppermint trees, spearwoods, paperbarks, native willows, wattles, banksias and melaleuca. All this provided habitatfor over 100 different bird species including Australian white ibis, yellow-billed spoonbil,white-faced heron, blue-billed duck, musk duck, black swan, hoary-headed grebe, Australian pelican, Eurasian coot, spotless crake, masked lapwing, dusky moorhen, purple swamphen and buff-banded rail.
Purple swamp hen, Porphyrio porphyrio, Lake Seppings, Western Australia. Olympus OMD EM1 mk ii with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f4-6.3 lens. Exposure: 1/1000 sec, f6.3 at ISO 2000.
Jewel spiders (Austracantha minax) are often called Christmas spiders as they are commonly found during December and January. Lake Seppings, Western Australia. Olympus OMD EM1 mk ii with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f4-6.3 lens. Exposure: 1/250 sec, f8, ISO 320.
All was fine and dandy until 1790 when the British explorer George Vancouver arrived. While he was mapping King George Sound he didn’t see any Minang but saw plenty of evidence that they were around and he later wrote that he found a ‘native village; fresh food remains near a well-constructed hut; a kangaroo that had apparently been killed with a blow to the head; a fish weir across what is now called the Kalgan River; and what appeared to be systematic firing of the land.’ (R. Appleyard. ‘ Vancouver’s Discovery and Exploration of King George’s Sound’ in Early Days, Journal and Proceedings of the Western Australian Historical Society, 1986, pp.86-97). That was the start of colonial settlement. As far as the lake is concerned well initially the settlers tried to do the right thing and in 1887 the Albany Municipal Council applied to the state government for permission to make the Lake and some of its surrounding bushland a botanical park. This lasted up until 1900 when it became a rubbish dump for the city of Albany. This sad state continued until 1972 when it was decided by the department of fisheries and fauna to turn the lake into a water fowl reserve.Very quickly the community got on board with initially a bird-walk being established by the Apex club of Albany in 1980. By 2004 a walk around the lake had been completed and the lake was given protected status. In 2018 there was a ‘community planting’ of some 22,000 trees and understory plants to provide a ‘biodiversity corridor’ and habitat for endangered wildlife such as the western ring tailed possum.
Brush Bronzeing, Phaps elegans, Lake Seppings, Western Australia. Olympus OMD EM1 mk ii with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f4-6.3 lens. Exposure: 1/1000 sec, f5.7 at ISO 2500.
Every time we go to Albany I always visit Lake Seppings. I love walking around the edge of the lake and observing all the wildlife. I see it in many ways as a beacon of hope. The local community came together and have made a serious and worthwhile attempt to restore the lake to what it once was it still has a long way to go before it reaches its former status but it is a very good start. For the Nyoongar I hope that the recent claim for compensation for the loss of their traditional lands succeeds and can bring them some way of moving forward.
Red-winged Fairy-wren, Malarus elegans, Lake Seppings, Western Australia. Olympus OMD EM1 mk ii with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f4-6.3 lens. Exposure: 1/1000, f7.1 at ISO 1000 with -1 stop exposure compensation.
New Holland Honeyeater, Phylidonyris novaehollandiae subsp. longirostris, Lake Seppings, Western Australia. Olympus OMD EM1 mk ii with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f4-6.3 lens. Exposure: 1/1000 sec, f6.3at ISO 800.
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