Nature

[Zhukov]

Ha, was that meant to teach you some sort of lesson?

No, I had no side effects come with my anting. You don't go around tasting things in Australia without knowing with 100% certainty that it wont kill you, so I wasn't as surprised with the ants as I was with the sundew.

On a related note, these are deadly:


Not really. Actually, they could have been, so I didn't try them just in case.

[Kitsa]

I'm not sure. Science professors can be inscrutable.

[Aaarg]

Awesome pictures. Makes me want to visit Australia.

Also, Kitsa, I love your random nuggets of information. Have you taken courses in natural resources/wildlife/etc. or are you just a reader/observer?

[Kitsa]

All of the above. One of my undergrad degrees is in music and the other was biology with a zoology emphasis. I was taking medschool classes at the same time by special permission, but I had to leave school for health reasons before I could do my MCAT and get in for reals. But then I did some graduate work anyway. And I used to keep massive amounts of reptiles and amphibians, because I liked to raise them.

But I think most of what I know comes from me being a paralyzed kid who read for entertainment instead of running around and being an idiot like a normal kid, heh. Also, I basically grew up in a hospital.

Documentaries are more interesting than crap fictional tv anyway.

[Aaarg]

Ah, cool.

Yeah, we've been watching Cosmos and I really like it regardless of how silly Sagan was.

[Kitsa]

You're too young to remember Leonard Nimoy "In Search Of...", I think, but that one was fun too. But it was more BS science than real.

[Zhukov]

Kitsa, you remind me of Stephen Fry. In a good way.

This is a random billabong somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I found long necked turtle shells all over the place, and lots and lots of fish skeletons. This area was ruled by a large white eagle that was hovering off in the distance. Did not swim here as it would be filled with crocodiles.


This was called Yellow River or some such. Lots of birds. In the distance you can just make out some water buffalo.


These were bigger than they look. The seeds inside tasted like peanuts.


THERE'S ONE.


There's another one.




Good sunset, but obscured by clouds today. Like Aarg, I seemd to be interested in the clouds in a lot of these photos. Good clouds make a photo more pituresque I think.

[Kitsa]

I like Stephen Fry. I just hope you're not talking about the manic-depressive way

That's a beautiful wading bird there at the end. Is it some sort of crane? I can't see the markings, but it didn't look like a heron at first go.

Are snakes a big problem on your hikes? I know that in NZ they're not, typically, but you seem to hike a bit north, too.

I'm trying to remember what the birds were in an Attenborough special on NZ that I was so taken with, but now I can't. Some sort of flightless mountain birds, they were fascinating.

[Zhukov]

The manic depressive way is hardly the "good way" now is it? Stephen Fry amazes me by being full of knowledge but also full of wit and humour. Most people can only have a little of column A, a little of column B. If they are lucky. You and he seem to have lots of both.

It is a crane. Or a heron... or maybe an ibis. Honestly I don't know too much about birds. I took many photos of herons and cranes, but you can't post them all, can you? There were snake-necked herons that would dart into the water, then pop their head and S shaped neck out while zooming around looking for fish; it looked gloriously absurd.

On a related note, I was attacked by White Ibis in Sydney for my sandwich. They are native, and can usually be found hanging around bins.

Snakes are only a problem if you go looking for them, off any tracks. You can run into them, but they generaly are well hidden and will try to stay that way. People that get killed by snakes are usually trying to antagonise them, or getting "a closer look". My photos of snakes (actually, just 'snake') are blurred and don't show anything other than the speed at which I was flinging the camera about. I only saw a few little snakes, in fact I see more snakes here in Tasmania than in the North.

The NZ bird... are you talking about the Kiwi? The MOA? That big, grey, parrot look-alike that has trouble mating and whose name alludes me right now?

[Kitsa]

That's very nice of you to say. It all seems a bit bizarre that my big, expensive education all came to nothing for health reasons and that now I'm doing art. But I hope I can pass stuff on to my kid. Learning is good.

I have a catalog with a Stephen Fry alarm clock. Apparently he wakes you with 100-odd spoken phrases.


This is part of the documentary...

[b_squared]

This is a view from the trails I ride near home. It's sagebrush and dry but I think it's pretty

Here is my ride,

[Zhukov]

Wow, cool. Where is that? My first thought was Spain, but somewhere like California or nearabouts seems more likely.

Also, horse. Cool.

[b_squared]

Yes I'm in California. We have some nice oak trees on that trail, I just did not get a picture of them.

[The Leader]

That horse looks so ashamed.

[Zhukov]

Oh yeah, it does.


I promise I'll be done now. Sorry for hogging.

St. Andrew's Cross spider. They look great and some of them have weird zig-zag effects on their webs. I say 'effects' as if they used photoshop.


One aspect of my short trip I didn't think would appeal to me was Aboriginal cave paintings, instead, however, I was totally in awe all of the time I spent in Ubir, a sacred painting site. There were probably around a hundred visable paintings, all between 20-40 000 years old, apparantly. I thought it was quite impressive and took way too many pictures. There was a European painted standing near a boat with big boots and a pipe, ahaha. A Tasmanian Tiger, too, because ten thousand odd years ago they lived all over Australia.



Good view at the top, too.


See that debri stuck on the tree on the left? That's bark, branches leaves etc that get washed around during the wet season. The whole place gets flooded and is pretty much underwater. Hard to believe it right then. We visited on the cusp of the wet seaon, and actually experienced the first rain the area had seen in 8 months. Monsoonal rain is intimidating, since it doesn't drilzzle then lead up to heavy rain, it just drops it all in one go, then stops soon after.


Most fires are started under controlled conditions so the bush can regenerate as naturally as possible while still being SAFE.


Luckily for me there were plenty of signs about. Really though, you just have to stay away from water that is murky or has plenty of wildlife/food around.


Did swim here though.


My gal.


Thanks for looking. Now, more pictures from other people please.

[Kitsa]

That's a really beautiful set of photos.

I've been a little depressed that I can't hike as much as I've been doing due to my various issues. My parents have suddenly gotten very active outdoors and have been all over, I'll have to see if they came up with anything pretty I can show you.

[b_squared]

I have photos of native american pictographs and petroglyphs. I took way too many pictures of them too. I'll have to post some of them later. I've been to Yellowstone and Yosemite this year maybe I'll will post some of those as well.

[Kitsa]

Not nature exactly, but this is the typical scenery, an Amish traffic jam in town:



These are from Charleston Falls and some other little woodsy parks near here that make for nice day hikes. My mom took these:

[Zomboid]

It snowed today! First day of Winter!

[stevetothepast]

you guys always get the white stuff first.

[Aaarg]

kitsa, is that in the hocking hills?


also zhukov, keep hogging. the pictures are gorgeous.

i'll probably take some hikes in the near future. things are dying, colors are changing.

[Kitsa]

Nope, not Hocking Hills. This is about 1.5 hours away from (west of) Columbus, around Springfield and Yellow Springs.

[b_squared]

Here are the petroglyphs:

[b_squared]

Arches national parkDouble arch, My daughters are in the middle of the picture

[Kitsa]

very cool. Much cooler than our local "twin arches", which I excitedly went to expecting a natural rockbridge and instead found some old rotting canal gates