Monday 6 April 2015

CAMOUFLAGE


 It is amazing how well animals are able to blend into their surroundings and it isn't until you stand still, listen and look around you might get a glimpse of them. Yesterday on a visit to Mount Bold Reservoir I was fortunate enough to find these guys lounging around in the last rays of the sun. My timing was bad for entry into the park but on the roadside the Kangaroos obviously knew it was closing time because every field of had kangaroos grazing on the open grasses. They werent too fussed by me as a fence was between us.

When i mentioned blending in , I was reflecting back on an instance when the family visited Yorke Peninsula and we were near the ocean crossing a grassy area. David went off the path to cut across the grasses and suddenly there were at least 50 kangaroo heads popping up out of the grasses. They were perfectly hidden in their surrounds. Now some of the  male kangaroos are quite large and can be extremely dangerous when disturbed (the hind legs have be known to tear a man's abdomen  apart from one kick) so David didn't waste much time getting back on the path.
These guys are a smaller breed than the ones we saw that day - quite cute really.



 Across the field at some distance were these red and blue parrots. I've never seen them before in nature and was quite thrilled. I had difficulty getting a good shot of them with my limited zoom but I consider myself fortunate to have seen them at all.


 So today I decided to make a return trip to the reservoir (during opening times). Last night we had heavy rains, the first of the season and what a good drenching we have had. There was even a spot of hail this afternoon. Despite being rained upon I decided to walk around the dam road. All the walking paths are closed to the public , this may be due to the fires of two years ago or just that they get sick of rescuing tourists from mishaps. The paths are steep!

So much rain in one night, water is even being let out of the reservoir...I can't fathom why as it is less than half full.


The walk down to the spillway and suspension bridge is paved for public use and this little guy was well camouflaged . (I had to crop the picture so you could find him) Perfect colouring though.



A couple of bush pickies. I looked up and started to photograph what I thought was a nest after I snapped the shot it moved and only then did I realise it was a Koala. He was nestled well up in the tree and these are the best shots I could get of the face. Everything else was all bottom




Dont forget to look up


Keep an eye on the sky


I was intrigued by this bark _ maybe a stringy bark - maybe it has a disease or an animal has affected the bark?? Interesting patterning though.



 Quick snap the camera, This guy does not stay still for long. I have lots of blurry shots and some half body shots



More interesting bark patterns


Country road home, see you next visit


Gonna (Going to) leave this all behind. (A little Aussie slang)
Cheers !


2 comments:

  1. The last time I saw a kangaroo in real life was at a zoo and that was decades ago. I think I'd like to visit one again. Love seeing your part of the world since it's so different than mine!

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  2. I like the blue bird in the cropped picture and the look on the face of the kangaroo in picture 3.

    It is hard to believe that you find Koala's in your trees, just like that.

    I was wandering wether they also do the licking after dinner (the way Lola does :)


    I agree with Karen: your world is different indeed, and nature around you looks like our zoos.

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