Humpback Whales

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Humpbacks at Noosa...

When I told my physio
yesterday
about seeing whales
he offered me his photographs
taken last week in his boat
off the Noosa Headland
and said
I was welcome to post them




Not only is he a Physiotherapist
extraordinaire
he is a very generous
and kind man





Humpback whales migrate
from the cold waters of the Antarctic
via the South Island of New Zealand
to the warm waters of Hervey Bay,
at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef
about a two hours drive north of Noosa




They arrive late July for calving
and remain until November
giving birth in the sanctuary of Hervey bay
before returning to the Antarctic





About 3000 Humpbacks
make this annual pilgrimage
and although they are an endangered species
their numbers are increasing





While Humpbacks
are the size of eleven elephants
they are the most acrobatic
of the big whales
They leap and roll and breach
with amazing grace and power
Adult whales have been seen
to breach 20-30 times
within the space of five minutes




The humpback whale
is classified as a rorqual
which means that
he has a dorsal fin on his back
and ventral pleats running
from the tip of his lower jaw
to the navel area

Humpbacks feed on krill
which are small thumb sized
prawn like animals
and also crustacea




They can eat 1-8 tonnes of krill per day
but they only eat in the summer
in the feeding grounds of Antarctica
25% of their summer intake
is stored as fat
for the great winter migration





Mating and birthing
occur in the warm waters of Hervey Bay
Gestation takes 11-12 months
the calves are 5m long at birth
and weigh 1.5 tonnes




The cow's milk has a high fat content of 35%
and 600 litres is produced per day
by the mothers

Whales have the longest
and most varied songs
in the animal world
The sounds are made
by the movement of air
through the body passages




Sounds are organised into sequences
of 10-15 minutes duration
and repeated without pause for hours
The sequences are arranged in cycles
characteristic of each population of whales
so that all of the humpbacks in one area
sing only the local song




Only male humpbacks sing
and only in the breeding season




The songs evolve over time
and each year it is a little different
but every change is picked up
and incorporated into the current sequence




The songs may function as a sexual display
advertise the presence of a breeding mate
and keep the family group together
but the complexity of the songs
suggest that there is more to it than that...





This year
with my broken ankle
I saw no whales heading North
save for a distant glimpse yesterday




I am hoping for some good sightings
in November



One year I was out very early
at 5.30 am
with Beloved,
being put through our fitness paces
on a little rocky outcrop
overhanging a tiny bay
on the headland
when our P.T. noticed
a mother and calf sheltering
directly below us
in the shallow waters...




so I am hopeful...





~

Photographs by Peter Hogg
Information gathered from Discover Hervey Bay
HerveyBay.com.au





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Birds in my Street

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Bird walking
in my street...

I set out this morning
for a long walk
but got no further
than half way around the street
- it is a circle-
on a reclaimed island
that was once mangroves



Firstly I was stopped
by the baby Honey Eaters
The tubby one above
will become
a Yellow Faced Honey Eater

on the other side of the street
a tiny honey eater
perhaps a female
Scarlet Honey Eater,
was singing loudly
a silvery note high overhead

She was only about 8cm long

I cross the street again
drawn by another bird call
and see the red eye ring
of a young Figbird

with a yellowy olive coat
and a white to pale yellow breast

this fig bird is a male
the female is brown
with a matching eye ring

the Figbird loves to eat fruits
from native figs to mulberries

In the Casaurina trees
the baby Noisy Miners
were living up to their name

demanding their mother's return
with food

while fluffy and cute now
they will turn mean and bossy
like this adult
with the glint of the devil
in his eye

a few houses along from the park
two baby Yellow Faced Honey Eaters

sat in a Pandanus tree
and preened

and then around the bend
I encountered

a clan of immature Magpies
who show little fear of humans
and let me walk right up to them

they had been feeding
on a house block
freshly cleared
after the demolition of a house

the little band of youngsters
have been rejected by their parents
and formed their own flock

they meandered
towards home with me

keeping at least one eye
on the movements
in the grass

they kept me company
for the rest of my walk

and so one hour later
I returned to my starting point
having only walked
around a small circle
but having seen
a bounty of birds...


and
I can walk again this afternoon
maybe I'll return
to Sunshine Beach
to try and photograph
the tiny little Red Backed Wrens
I saw yesterday
just after the camera batteries died...







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Thoth

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Thoth

Thoth
pronounced Tee hoo tee
was a lunar deity
in the religion
of ancient Egypt










Thoth was the god of writing,
magic and learning
He is also credited
with the creation of language

Thoth is commonly depicted
as an ibis headed
divine male figure









and also appears as a baboon


At times he can be seen wearing
the lunar crescent
on his head,
as in the top picture

In drawings Thoth,
(Tee hoo tee)
is seen
holding a scribe's palette
and a stylus


In his role
as scribe to the Gods,
recording divine utterances,
words and judgments,
Thoth keeps a great library
of scrolls

Another of Thoth's tasks
was to record the deeds of the living
which were later recounted
in the Halls of Judgement
where the weighing of souls
took place after death

As the patron of scribes,
the God of wisdom
and of writing,
and the creator of magic
I suggest
that we could do no better
than to adopt Thoth
as the God of Blogging

What do you think...




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Red Dust

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Red Dust...

Australia is known
for its red centre
But yesterday
high winds
swept tonnes of sand and soil
off Lake Eyre Basin
in the heart of Australia
and sucked it 3km into the sky

the dust storm
swept up through three states
dragging up millions of tons of soil
the plume grew to 1500km long
and 400km wide
and overnight it
painted Sydney red

Harbour and air traffic
came to a stand still
and road traffic
was severely compromised

By the middle of the day
the now lightened clouds
had travelled over 1000km
to my capital city Brisbane

At 3pm
in my home town of Noosa
120 km north of Brisbane
the hot North winds
were replaced by the South Eastern
dust laden clouds

This is a rare phenomena
but not unknown

Australia has experienced
the second driest winter on record
soils were loose
and flew off the land
at 140,000 tonnes an hour

We closed all windows
and taking these pictures
the dust filled by nostrils
and made me smell
and taste dirt
for the remainder of the day

it sent the Brahminy kites
into a bit of a frenzy

By 4pm the dust pall
had thickened

what can you see from up there

my views became
sepia coloured

overnight the clouds blew
over the coast
and out to sea

heading for New Zealand
I will ring my Mother later
and see if they arrived
as scheduled

today the skies
were pristine clear
and the ocean still
and gently glistening

It was a glorious day
to set out early for a walk
before the temperatures reached 29*C



It was a day of
whales
dolphins
a great grandaddy goanna

and dead batteries



ah well...
It was still a blessed day




Australia is certainly
a land of contrasts





the first four photos come from Ninemsn


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Walk on the Wallum Side

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Walking in the Wallum
on Mondays...

It's Monday
at 3.30 pm
and you know what that means

It time we got started
down through the dunes...

and onto Sunshine Beach
en route to the Wallum

we'll walk on this path
up on the dunes
amongst the creeping vines
and Pig Face
Carpobrotus glaucescens

until we reach
the Northern end of the beach
and climb
up the wood and chain track
to where the Scarlet Wrens flit


















but instead of wrens we see today's
Golden Everlasting Paper Daisy

yesterday's spent ones

and tomorrow's
promise of a new flower

and here
we enter the Wallum

and under a Wallum sky
it is quiet

the afternoon light
falls through the Paper Barks
and onto the dry bracken
that cannot survive without water...

Let's take this turn
down these gentle steps

beside a young Grass Tree
a magnet for the sun

and we'll make our way
through fern gully

across a little bridge
over Tea Tree stained water

and enter the flat Wallum country
where a giant grass tree flower
marks the path crossroads













let's stop to look
at this intriguing flower stem

The forest grass tree
Xanthorrhoea latifiolia
does not have a trunk

It flowers profusely
after a fire
and you may remember
that I showed you
a controlled burn recently
in the Wallum
that came right up to this corner

the flower stalk was used
by the Aborigines
in fire making,
the nectar to make drinks,
the leaf base nibbled
and the resin,
a traded item,
was used as glue

today
the wild bees
are enjoying a feast

now we are entering the Wallum
Banksia country
after which the Wallum is named

Stop!
Look over here...

walk back this way
and the Frill Neck Lizard
will move into the sun

Oh what a beauty you are
Mr Frill Neck

Look at his scaly skin
his toes
and watchful eye

and do you see
that loose pouch of skin
folded on his shoulders
which can become his frill

look at his long rigid tail
in silhouette,
he resembles a branch

thank you Mr Frill Neck Lizard
for your co-operation

Listen!

It's the pair of Black Cockatoos
we heard and saw
circling over the dunes


they are keeping their distance
eating the Banksia nuts

The sun is telling me
that I must get you home
This walk
at a fast pace
can take 45 minutes
But we have spent two hours
immersed in the Wallum
lost in nature



We are blessed


Oh happy Days...








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