Weekend at Capertee Valley

We spent a relaxing weekend at the Capertee Valley, situated three hours from Sydney at the far end of the beautiful Blue Mountains. My explicit reason for visiting was the scenery and some time away with Ally. Of course, the fact that Capertee enjoys some of the best bird life in New South Whales may have also have been an influencing factor.

The weather was not on our side unfortuntely and the grey skies were not particularly condusive for stunning landscape shots, but the valley was very scenic nevertheless as you can see from the shots below..



Who would have thought a thistle could make a nice photo...
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Lots of flowers were out, being the tail end of spring...
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We stayed in a cosy cabin on a farm on Longridge Farm. We were thinking of camping; given the weather, it was good we didn't. Not that living in a cabin protected us from all the elements. Look at who shared our bathroom. Rather freaky he was!
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A Satin bowerbird had built his bower just a few metres from our cabin. These amazing birds build ornate "boudoirs" out of all sorts of odds and sodds that catch their fancy. This particular bowerbird had a penchant for blue clothes pegs.
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Once happy with his masterpiece, the bowerbird calls out stridently in the hope that a lady will come and check out his " shag pad" and be so impressed that she will stay for the night. When she arrives, he dances like crazy to woo her. Not too different from modern dating in the human world.
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The bowerbird is extremely particular about his bower and when Ally put a pink petal amongst his things (while he was away), he returned and immediately removed the offending item. It evidently did not meet his very exacting colour scheme!!
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And here he is - the peg loving, romantic Satin Bowerbird. In the sunshine, he has a blue sheen (same shade as the pegs he steals), but the sun didn't make an appearance. By the way, if you want to see an amazingly impressive bower, check it out here (prepare to be blown away!)
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Apart from the fascinating Bowerbird, the undoubted birding highlight for me was the beautiful finches in the valley. They birds are like tiny jewels; absolutely beautiful.
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Diamond Firefinch (new species)
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Double-barred finch
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Zebra Finch (Male and female) - new species
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And lots of other birds too...
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Yellow robin

White-plumed honeyeater (new species)
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Splendid fairywren (beautiful!)
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White-browed babbler

New Holland Honeyeater
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White-eyed duck (new species)
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To be identified   
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Nankeen kestrel
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Eastern Rosella (new species)
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To be identified
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Australian Pelican
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We spent most of our time walking and exploring the valley from the little town of Glen Davis. This was a thriving town of over 2500 until 1952 when its oil plant suddenly closed down due to lack of government support. The town almost became a ghost town overnight and all the houses and cars were abandoned.

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The town is now occupied by a few famers but it is tiny and quiet and strewn with old rusting cars and old caved in houses. A very strange place - and a bit sad. But good too, that it has been reclaimed to a large extent by nature.




An old, abandoned house...
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New birds

• Eastern Rosella
• Zebra Finch
• Diamond Finch
• White-eyed Duck
• White-plumed Honeyeater

It's that time of year again...

...pouring brandy on the Xmas cake!
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Fireworks over the Opera House

Australian Idol enjoyed its final tonight (filmed from the Opera House) but I did not watch it on TV. Was too busy out on the harbour catching the show's fireworks show. Ally and Kerry watched the fireworks on TV and out of the window - a weird experience to be sure!
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Bogan Party

Last night, we went to Bruce and Kristy's "Bogan" party. What fun! Two week's ago I didn't even know what a Bogan was. Now, after the party, I feel I understand this important aspect of "downunderism" (a mysterious world of mullets and long-kneck beer bottles in brown paper bags) very well.

Everyone took the topic to heart and outdid themselves in the costume department. Ally even had her hair professionally blow dried into an ultra curly poofery.

Well, if the photos don't explain it, here is some more information on Boganism!

BOGAN is a term used in Australia to describe a particular section of the working class demographic.

Traits of the bogan can be summarised by the following points:

A pronounced lack of dress sense in social situations. Typical bogan attire consists of a flannelette shirt, King Gee stubbie shorts (either blue/khaki), torn or soiled jeans from the 1980's or earlier, and double-plug standard issue white thong sandals with black rubber. A female bogan will usually wear a matching ensemble usually consisting of second-hand fashions or products purchased from the discount retail chains Best and Less or Big W.

Distinct hair. A bogan will often allow his/her hair to grow into an attractive style named the "mullet" as popularised in the 1980's. Similar styles apply for females, however the female bogan frequently colours her hair auburn.

Distinct vocabulary. A common bogan trait includes shortening words. Locations such as the Wyong Leagues Club become the "leaguesy", the Crown Casino becomes the "leaguesy" and females/males such as Sharon/Barry become "Shaz" and "Baz".

A particular choice in motor vehicle. The bogan usually drives one of two makes of vehicle. Typically this is either a Holden or a Ford . Common bogan variants manufactured by each of these companies include the Holden Commodore and the Ford Falcon.

Employment status. The common bogan is either a) not employed or b) a tradesman/labourer.

A poorly-maintained house. In most cases the bogan is located some way inland from a coastal fringe or major waterway. In the case of Sydney, this has lead to the term "westie" being coined in order to distinguish the boganistic population of the inland western suburbs from the more affluent residents of the east.

The bogan house usually consists of a number of elements:

• The bedroom (for rootun).
• The balcony (for smokun/shootun).
• The livun room (for watchun telly/smokun/gettun pissed).
• The kitchen (for storun beer).
• The combined bathroom/laundry (for washun shit) .
• The shed (for rootun/smokun/shootun/gettun pissed/storun beer/workun on the commo).

Royal National Park revisited

Wattamolla Beach and Lagoon






Little Wattlebird (new species)
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Eastern Whipbird
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Eastern Yellow Robin (new species)
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Flycatcher
.Yellow-faced Honeyeater (new species)
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Crimson Rosella
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Black-faced Monarch (new species)
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Lyre Bird (a photo at last!)
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New Holland Honeyeater
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Brown Gerygone (new species)
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Heathland Plants
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New birds seen

• Yellow-faced honeyeater
• Eastern yellow robin
• Black-faced monarch
• Little Black cormorant
• Little wattlebird
• Brown Gerygone

Narrabeen and Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

View of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
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Wonga Pigeon (new species)

Glossy Black Cockatoo (new species)

Bush Turkey
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Australian Magpie
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Eastern Rosella
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Kangaroo
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Mangrove Crabs
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Mangrove Heron
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Mallard ..
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Whitebellied Sea Eagle
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Royal Spoonbills
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Darter
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