Category Archives: mosses/lichens

Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary

4X4, Australia, AWC, ferns, forest, Landscape, mosses/lichens, NSW, Plant, river/creeks, Stroud, trees, Waulinbakh, Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary

A few days ago The Doc and his friend Steve visited Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary at Stroud New South Wales. Our guides for the day were AWC staff Elly and Josh.

Steve’s main objective was locating live myxos in the field. We had success locating 5 or 6 species. The Doc located the first myxos, but they were of poor quality, but later he spotted a large fallen tree which turned out to be a myxo gold mine. Steve’s find on the rotting tree included a myxo that had only ever been reported in NSW twice before (one of those sightings was by Steve). It was Steve and Josh who did all the heavy myxo lifting.

We met with three other AWC staff that day on site, one of the land managers Matt and two senior staff on visit to the sanctuary.

Steve and The Doc brought along morning tea and lunch, after an early visit to the Buladelah Bakery. Small thank you gifts to the AWC staff were also given.

We stayed at the Lady Jane Motel in Buladelah for two nights as part of the trip, run by a hard working family. They are in the process of renovating the motel. The room The Doc had was great, but the newly refurbished rooms were amazing. It was a great stay.

The myxos found are still being photographed by Steve. Steve has a self published a book of myxos here.

A big thank to Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the owners for allowing us to visit. Here are some images from the visit. The Sony P&S camera struggled in the low light conditions.

Stanthorpe – start of the Outback Queensland trip

4X4, Australia, bark, cityscape, Landscape, moss & lichen, mosses/lichens, Plant, rock, Textures, trees, ,

At the beginning of the Eromanga trip The Doc drove from Ballina to his mate’s place at Stanthorpe. He stayed two nights and got to ride in Tony’s Ford 350 – wow what a great tow vehicle!

The next morning The Doc was just touring around Stanthorpe and found the Mt Marlay Lookout. Just a few images from the Lookout. Click on that first panorama, because at full size it has amazing details.

The Doc really liked Stanthorpe and for the first time since switching to part time work, thought about moving out of Sydney.

We had lunch at the Jam Factory and later that day Tony took The Doc to Donnellys Castle Recreations Reserve. Plus a few textures from the reserve.

Tony made a great choice to live in Stanthorpe, part of the Granite Belt. The Doc will be back.

Interactive map from Ballina to Eromanga here. Enjoy.

More barks

4X4, Australia, Ballina, bark, Landscape, moss & lichen, mosses/lichens, NSW, Plant, Textures, trees

A few visits to the Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens has yielded more bark images. Plenty more to come.

The Doc will probably leave Ballina tomorrow and return to Sydney.

Textures – Ballina barks

Australia, Ballina, bark, coastal, Landscape, landscape, macro, moss & lichen, mosses/lichens, NSW, ocean, Plant, Textures, trees

Not much time for photography on this trip, more like painting, pressure cleaning and gardening. The Doc did manage some trips, around Ballina and Broadwater National Park. Some barks and perhaps a Coral Lichen. Enjoy. You must click on the images to see then at full size (the thumbnails look soft).

North Head wildflowers

Australia, AWC, bark, flowers, Landscape, macro, moss & lichen, mosses/lichens, North Head, NSW, Plant, States, Wildflowers

The Doc visited North Head (near Manly) today to photograph the wildflowers. Here is a selection.

 

AWC’s Paruna Sanctuary Perth – wildflowers

4X4, Australia, AWC, flowers, Landscape, macro, mosses/lichens, Paruna, Plant, river/creeks, trees, Uncategorised, Wildflowers

While the Doc was in Perth he visited two more AWC Sanctuaries, being Paruna and Karakamia. The wildflowers were out at Paruna. Most wildflowers are very small ½ to 1 cm. Here is a selection. Enjoy. Click on the images to see correct size, the thumbnails are blurry.

The Savannah Lander – Day 4

Australia, bark, Cairns, Cairns, Gulf Savannah, Landscape, moss & lichen, mosses/lichens, other, plains, Plant, Qld, river/creeks, rock, States, Textures, Uncategorised

The last day was mostly train travel from Mt Surprise back to Cairns. The Doc was up early and walked to the railway station, having a look around the township. There was also a small market in front of the station with locals selling to the tourists. A great idea. However the food was mostly in glass, so The Doc passed on the opportunity.

There was some excitement on the way home including the train being held up by young bushrangers. A great way for kids to earn pocket money! The passengers were warned that we’d be robbed 😉

Instead of repeating some of the earlier photos let’s look at some textures, here bark and leaves.

And some rock and minerals. Enjoy.

Next day the flight home. An enjoyable trip which included a visit to Pungalina and the Savannah Lander train trip. Yes The Doc used the wrong watermark on the pictures.

Newhaven – revisited

Australia, AWC, bark, desert, lakes, Landscape, landscape, mosses/lichens, Newhaven, NT, plains, Plant, Textures, trees

This time last year The Doc had finished his Kimberley/Pilbara trip and was returning through central Australia using Australia’s longest shortcut – The Great Central Road. After a rest stop at Alice Springs he headed to AWC’s Newhaven Sanctuary for a few days.

This Saturday he heads off to Cairns then onto Pungalina/Seven Emu in Arnham Land.

A few shots from Newhaven. More pictures here.

Coastal Wetland – algal bloom

Australia, coastal, Flinders Island, mosses/lichens, other, Plant, Tas, Textures

Something a bite different a very rare type of algal bloom. Most algal blooms are just green, this one ranges from green through brown to white and many shades in between.

In this coastal wetland an area was not subject to normal tidal movement. However, during a king tide this area filled with water, an algal bloom resulted and as the water evaporated the sun would begin to dry out the bloom from green through brown to white. The white occurs after the bloom completely bleached by the sun.

This shot shows all 3 major colours, taken from above. Nature can create some amazing colours and textures even from a humble algal bloom. Click on photo to see full size.

Flinders Island Day 5 RAW - 0063-FinalSharp_2

Flinders Island – Castle Rock

Australia, coastal, Flinders Island, Landscape, mosses/lichens, Tas, Tasmania

A photo from The Doc’s recent visit to Flinders Island. This is Castle Rock a granite monolith on the edge of Marshall Bay. The rock is 4 or 5 stories high. The “small” rock on the right side is taller than a human. That is orange lichen growing on the rock, something not uncommon in Tasmania. The earlier image The Doc posted had even more lichen, click here.

The picture is two images stitched together. The Doc was testing a new tilt + shift lense. Nothing special in post processing, just a small re-crop, plus some saturation and sharpening.

FI Castle Rock