Dead Horse Gap

Dead Horse Gap, aptly named. Could also get away with a name like Dead Tree Gap. The red poles alongside the road serve a two fold purpose. One, when the road is under snow, you know where both the road and certain death are. Two, to alert you that you are travelling through an avalanche area - dont dawdle - keep going or take your chances.


Look closely, regeneration is underway. Supposedly there is a car park and a walking track here, but we didnt see it, and so pushed on.


We spied this colourful wild flower elsewhere. I needed to see some colour after re-visiting Dead Horse Gap, thought you would enjoy it too.

Regeneration II: Life goes on

Under normal conditions, many Eucalypt trees shed thier bark seasonally, not thier leaves. I think this one is shedding its singed exterior rather artfully.


The curious, wooly appearance of most Eucalypt trees during regeneration. All along the length of the seemingly dead tree, new shoots appear. Some will go on to become the trees new branches. The regenerating tree looks like a column of green in the sea of naked sun bleached timber.


Sweet scented flowers of some abundant wild shrub. No doubt they are loving the extra sun they get with the canopy being temporarily thinner. No bees, no butterflys, just lots of young locust, and the ever present blow-fly.

Regeneration is a long, slow road

Our first shock of the trip was the price of a ticket to drive through Kosciuszko National Park. $16.00!!! And thats the off-season price! Well, we are going to be investing in an all parks pass very soon, I can tell you. Whoa!

The second shock was the hectares and hectares of seemingly dead trees. Its only once you finally find a place to pull over and have a good look that you realize there has been a bush fire through here, sometime in the last few years.

Most of the trees are regenerating, a process Id like to fully document one day, as its so spectacular and wondrous. But many trees are beyond coming back. It filled me with a strange mix of feelings. This is how it is, but what do the animals and birds do to survive in the meantime? Life is harsh, no matter your species. And yet, where there were dead trees, thier seeds finally had light and room to sprout and grow, the circle remains unbroken. Despair and hope in the same space...I will save pondering that further for a day I have more time to philosophize.

I havent yet mentioned how sweet the air was. That may sound cliche, but I mean it literally, the air was sweet. Was it the abundant wildflowers and flowering shrubs? The atomized oil from the young eucalyptus trees? Altitude above the smog? We dont know for sure, but when we did come back down later, we could smell fried food on the air for several kilometers outside of town. Sad, but true.
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The light here is very harsh, and you can tell that from these photos, especially the centre one. I have a UV filter on one lens, and a polarising filter on the other. The colours with the polarising filter are superior. I will upgrade that UV to a polarizing as soon as possible!

Wedge-tailed Eagles, Aquila audax

We arrived in Jindabyne in the early afternoon on Xmas eve. While checking into our hotel, we asked the hotelier about our planned route and found out it would take about twice the amount of time we thought. Hmmm, we must be a little rusty in the planning department, rats!

But since there is no arguing with the sun about when he knocks off for the day, we decided to do about half the Alpine Way, to see what we could of it before dusk.

We werent five minutes out of 'Jindy' when The Most DH checked the mirrors and swerved to the side of the road. He had spotted these two Wedge-tailed Eagles resting in this tree by the side of the road!

I slipped out of the car, with the monopod this time, and crept along the road to bag these shots as they took to the sky. The earth was baking hot, so the thermals were ready for them to ride. Just three or four wing beats, and they were free of us and all cares.

This was a pretty near peak experience for me, as my absolute fave birds are the raptors and I have worked with them previously in a rehab setting. But to get this close to uninjured, truly wild raptors was a blast.

It wasnt long and other cars stopped to turn thier faces skyward and enjoy the show. Normally I avoid people like the plague, but there was Eagle magic at work, and for the first time ever, I experienced at-one-ment not just with nature, but also with my own kind. Thats powerful magic!

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For more info:
Wedge-tailed Eagles at Birds in Backyards

Lovely!

Oh Thank you Lori! Hooray!

As a special treat a larger version is available to view by clicking the photo above. I have compressed it as usual, (which degrades the quality quite a bit), but will take only about a minute to download instead of five or more. LOL. Personal use only, all rights reserved!

Great Beakage! What else ya got?

Come on Lori, give us a nice shot and then we will stop stalking you. Pretty Please with Nectar on top?

SHOW US YER BEAK!

Enjoying the flowers of our Banksia Serratta, on a sunny day. Will the Lori's let me get a nice shot this time?