Veronika Wild

Crimson Rosella -  Cluan's photo - much better than my bird pics. Oh dear,   looks like I missed the Great Aussie Backyard Bird Count which ran during Bird Week from 21 – 28 th of October, but never fear, I am keeping an eye on those in the backyard. The Birds in Backyards program still allows citizen scientists to contribute not only to our overall knowledge about the health and distribution of our birds, but also about how our environment is changing. Like frogs and other sensitive creatures, birds are literally the canaries in the coalmine of our world.  My bird photography is a lot like my seal photography.  If you play this at fullscreen you may see the rear of a Yellow Throated Honeyeater For instance, last year’s Backyard Bird Count involving 72, 421 people and 1,972, 250 birds, noted a decline in Kookaburra populations right across the south eastern states, though the reasons have thus far remained elusive. However, there ar...

Callistemons add a splash of Christmas colour at Inverawe Gardens - the birds love them too The Callistemons were in bloom when I visited this 9.5 ha private garden a couple of weeks ago, feeling rather remiss for having mentioned it in connection with alpine plants when I hadn’t actually seen it. It does not specialise in Alpine or Subalpine species – i.e. you won’t see any cushion plants, because the region is simply too dry (you need a minimum of 1200 mls. of rainfall for this type of vegetation to flourish and even more for rainforest plants) and it is also too close to the sea. One of the few representative rainforest plants is the Athrotaxis Laxifolia, the one that is a cross between The King Billy Pine and the Pencil Pine. Alas, it sits forlornly in a pot near the entrance, presumably so that it can get the abundant water it needs. Athrotaxis Laxifolia - the rare cross between King Billy Pine and Pencil Pine The good thing about this garden is that fo...