Whether The Weather

Whether the weather be fine

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold

Or whether the weather be hot,

We’ll weather the weather

Whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not.

Anonymous

 

Winter
The morning mist on the Avon River. Western Australia. Panasonic G9 with Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f2.8-4 lens.

 

I like the pass of the seasons. I like how everything changes and provides different experiences. I like going out down the Avon River on a cold winters morning with thick mist. The experience is very different – vision is limited to around 5-10m and sounds are strangely muted. When looking for wildlife you think that nothing is near and then suddenly it looms out of mist. Sometimes I wonder who is more surprised at the encounter, me or the animal.

 

Family Outing by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
A femaleAustralian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata) and her twenty one ducklings swiming in the Avon River. Two weeks later I saw her and had just five remaining ducklings. Panasonic Lumix G9 mk ii with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f4.5-6.3 lens.

 

Kakak by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Kakak or Little Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos).

 

Bambon by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
A male Bambon or Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris). Panasonic Lumix G9 mk ii with PanaLeica 100-400mm lens.

 

Bambon by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
A female Bambon or Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris). Panasonic Lumix G9 mk ii with PanaLeica 100-400mm lens.

 

;

Doornart by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
The sun making an effort to break through the mist creates a warm haze. Doornart or Ring-necked Parrot (Barnardius zonarius subspecies semitorquatus). Panasonic Lumix G9 mk ii with PanaLeica 100-400mm lens.

 

 

Living in a farming community the topic of conversation often turns to the weather. Right now people are talking about how little rain there has been, how cold it is, how they’re looking forward to summer, and how they’re worried about the forthcoming mother of all El Niño’s is coming with forecast temperatures for the Wheatbelt being in the mid to high 40sºC. The local farmers I’ve spoken with are all saying that crop yields will be severely impacted. Generally El Niños don’t effect us in Western Australia like they do in the Eastern States so hopefully this summer won’t too much of a feat of endurance.

All Fogged Up

We’ve had a lot of cold, dank, foggy mornings along the Avon River lately. It must be cold as most of the duck population has taken to perching in trees while waiting for the day to warm up.

 

Morning Mist by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
The weak winter sun tries to burn off the thick winter mist in the Avon Valley.

 

Dew On A Web by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
The mornings dew on a spider’s web. Avon Walk Trail, Western Australia.

 

Marangana by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Marangana or Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata).

 

Ngowonan by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Ngowonan or Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa).

 

Wayan by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Wayan or White Faced Heron (Ardea novaehollandiae) hunkered down against the cold.

 

Kaaka-baaka by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
This pair of Kaaka-baaka or Yellow-billed Spoonbills (Platalea flavipes) braved the cold and were wading in the river looking for food.

 

Ngowonan by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
“Time I was off”. Ngowonan or Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa).

 

Overall I was actually quite impressed that my Olympus EM1x could find focus in these dark low contrast situations.

Wandering in Wongermine Reserve

 

OK that maybe a little bit melodramatic, but there was no doubt that getting out and about after a few weeks of lockdown was a bit of a rush! So where did I go? What did I do with this new found liberty? Well I went to Wongamine Reserve near Toodyay to look for two types of orchid and do the walk trail. Pretty sad eh?

 

The main entrance to Wongamine Nature Reserve, Toodyay, Western Australia.

 

 

 

The reserve isn’t really visited any more the gates are locked and many of the signs broken or over grown. In fact speaking of overgrown the walk trail is so overgrown in places that I  suggest that if you do want to visit and walk there that you take a GPS and download the walk track from Trails WA and follow that.

The reserve was closed a while ago and many of the trails and signs have fallen into a state of disrepair. Wongamine Nature Reserve, Toodyay, Western Australia.

 

Some of the vehicle tracks have not been used for a long time allowing termites to build mounds on them. Wongamine Nature Reserve, Toodyay, Western Australia.

 

This was one of only two trail markesr on the walk trail. Wongamine Nature Reserve, Toodyay, Western Australia.

 

Was there anything positive about the visit? Well yes there was actually. The woodland is home to quite a variety of bird life – I didn’t photograph any as I was not carrying a suitable lens as I had gone to photograph orchids. I would expect from walking through the bush that would be quite a display of wildflowers in spring which would make the journey well worth while. There were quite a few species of dragonflies as well which at the time surprised me for some reason.

 

Wongamine Nature Reserve by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Australian Emperor Dragonfly (Anax papuensis) Wongamine Nature Reserve, Toodyay, Western Australia.

 

Did I find the orchids? Well the Winter Spider Orchid is only 6cm tall with a 2cm flower and the Crinkle-leafed Bunny Orchid is 10cm tall with a 9mm flower  and considering that the reserve is 330 ha of bushland I think I did well to find anything at all. I didn’t find any Winter Spider Orchids, I have photographed them before at Babakin, but I found lots of the Bunny Orchids. In fact I never seen so many Crinkle-leafed Bunny Orchids before. So all in all it was a great day out.

 

Wongamine Nature Reserve by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Crinkle-leafed Bunny Orchid, Eriochilus dilatatus subsp undulatus. Wongamine Nature Reserve, Toodyay, Western Australia.

 

Winter Coat*

Winter Coat by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

 

As the nights are getting longer and colder the local horses have been put into their winter coats. Another two photos from the shoot with the Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f1.4 lens.

 

Winter Coat by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

 

*This week’s post title was inspired by Paul Kelly’s song “Winter Coat”

Frida Says

Frida says “Wake me up in spring.”. Panasonic G85 with OLYMPUS M.45mm F1.8 lens. Exposure: 1/15 sec, f2 at ISO 3200. Processed in AlienSkin Exposure 4.

Winter…

…is here. Break out the chainsaw and axe! A dirty great wood pile is a beautiful thing.

 

 

The Sky Is Crying*…

…and boy did it pour down. It rained so hard that the drops actually bounced.

I was in a rebellious frame of mind this week. I had downed tools on my latest book project as it turned out I’d received no royalty payments for two years. Not unusual I’m afraid, publishers are notoriously tight at best and blatant rip off merchants at worst. My father was not a politically correct man and one of his favourite jokes was:

“How do get a drink out of a Scotsman?

Stick two fingers down his throat!”

Well it wouldn’t work with my publisher. They are just impervious. The accountant usually has a number of excuses as to why he has not made any payments. The usual one is that his father had just died. Not a word of bullshit he had his father die four times over a six month period. Well the statements have been coming in, but no payments had hit my bank account for two years. So as William Shakespeare had King Lear say “Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle” .

I was right royally hacked off and emailed them to say I’m not finishing the current book until I’ve been paid and then I felt the need to go out and do something for me instead of working. So I went to Wireless Hill to photograph orchids in the pouring rain. Make that torrential rain. I’d have stayed drier if I’d have jumped fully clothed into a swimming pool. Anyway despite all that I got four photos I was happy with.

 

Pansy Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Pansy orchid, Diuris magnifica. Wireless Hill, Western Australia. Canon EOS6d with Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens, Phottix Mitros+ speedlite triggered by a Phottix Odin TCU. Exposure: manual mode, 1/160 s at f/8.0 at ISO 100.

 

Dancing Spider Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Dancing spider orchid (Caladenia discoidea) aka antelope orchid or bee orchid. Wireless Hill, Western Australia. Canon EOS6d with Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens. Exposure: aperture priority, 1/125 s at f/8.0 at ISO 1600.

 

Pansy Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Pansy orchids, Diuris magnifica, Wireless Hill, Western Australia. Canon EOS 6d with Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. Exposure: aperture priority,1/800 s at f/8.0 at ISO 1600.

 

Carousel Spider Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Carousel Spider Orchid, Carousel, Wireless Hill, Western Australia. Canon EOS6d with Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens. Exposure: aperture priority, 1/1000 s at f/4.0 at ISO 1600.

The old Canon EOS6d with 100mm f2.8L Macro IS lens performed admirably in the wet and I’m always astounded by the quality of the files it produces, Many would argue that it is not a professional camera due to it having a very basic AF system, poor dynamic range, not properly weather sealed and only having one card slot, but man alive if you can’t produce professional quality work with it then you really need to get some help.

* Today’s musical reference is the song “The Sky Is Crying” written and originally performed by Elmore James in 1959. It was an impromptu song inspired by a downpour of rain. Since then it has become a blues staple with a plethora of artists recording it over the years. My favourite version is still the Elmore James one, but I also like the version by Stevie Ray Vaughan. The video I’ve embedded below features and all star line up of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King and BB King.

Winter In The Wheatbelt

Yenyenning Lake by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Dead trees on a winters misty morning in Yenyenning Lake. Beverley, Western Australia. Sony A7r with Sony FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS lens, and Cokin 3 stop graduated neutral density filter and a circular polarizing filter. Exposure: 0.3 sec, F16, ISO 100.