Buckley Falls

One of my friends goes birdwatching every morning. He has a routine, a particular patch that he checks out each day, and he records what he sees each day. And because he's been doing it for a number of years now the data that he has accumulated is invaluable. Part of his patch is Buckley Falls on the Barwon River on the western outskirts of Geelong.

The rest of us make spasmodic visits because it's a beautiful area and occasionally we see some really nice (by which I mean special) birds, but my friend knows where the birds nest, the size of their territories, when the migrants arrive and leave, changes to the environment. He enjoys the common birds, loves the challenge of finding the nests (although he got very frustrated last year because the nests of Crested Shrike-tits are very difficult to find). The Buckly Falls area is a very reliable spot to find Nankeen Night-herons sitting on the rocks in the daytime, and in winter the Pink Robins and Rose Robins passing through.

The falls are named after William Buckley, the escaped convict who lived with aborigines in this area for three decades before the settlers from Tasmania arrived. They've been modified by a low wall across the river, another weir upstream and a viaduct on the north side built to supply water to a paper mill in the 1800s but are still delightful. There is a Friends group doing fantastic work with planting and weeding. Picnic spots, lookouts and walking tracks have been established on both sides of the river. Suburbia is approaching from the south but a buffer zone has been negotiated.

It's easy to forget that the falls are there because they are not visible from any main roads, but they are well worth a visit.

Planting for the future

This morning I joined a group of locals in celebrating National Tree Day by planting some trees (and shrubs and grasses). The spot selected for us was on the south bank of the Barwon River, by a road that I use frequently. It will be very rewarding to watch the growth in the future. Recently a community group had a planting day in a recreation reserve near my house, and I think they've done a great job. But some of the people in the houses on the opposite side of the street are objecting because when the trees grow they will block out the view they currently have. The same thing happened to us. The trees planted in a reserve near us are now obstructing our view ... but we actually helped plant them so we can't complain.

My photographic contribution to National Tree Day is of a tree in my own garden, a Bell-fruited Mallee Eucalyptus preissiana. I mentioned it several months ago but at the moment it is in full flower in my north-facing front garden, and looks spectacular from the street. It only grows to a height of several metres, and is round in shape, so the flowers are shown to their best advantage.

All is well in the world

I'd been home for a full day before I remembered that the magpies were building a nest in my tree when I left for Queensland. This morning I went out to check (carefully keeping my eyes away from the oxalis that has enveloped my garden in my absence). I was delighted to see a big beak over the edge of the nest, so obviously a parent bird is sitting on the eggs.

Clouds

Before checking in to our accommodation at Charters Towers we drove to the highest spot in town so that we could see the sunset properly. I'd anticipated a good one because the clouds were spectacular. And we weren't disappointed.

The next day we drove north to Undara and I could hardly see the landscape for the show that was developing in the huge sky for all of the six hours we travelled. I'm lost for words to describe how beautiful the clouds were. [Where was Duncan when I needed him?]