Recently I set a sony voice recorder at Devil's Gap for 5 days. Usually in warmer weather 2 AAA lithium batteries will leave the little recorder running continuously on highest quality for 4 or 5 days. Sub zero temperatures in the mountains last week though had exhausted the new batteries within 24 hours. Early morning on the 22 May I captured the sounds of mountain lyrebirds singing their songs and mimicking a variety of birds. Perhaps I should offer it on iTunes...
For information on the Australian Lyrebird there is a wikipedia article here.
Added the track to Youtube,,,
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Monday, May 27, 2013
Technical difficulties
If any of my regular readers have wondered about my absence... In the middle of a google hangout my faithful laptop of three years finally died.
This I took as an omen after nearly 550 posts, hundreds of thousands of trail camera images and video and many hours of amateur research thought it appropriate to take a break from blogging for a while...
I have to admit that I am a bit of an Internet junkie. I'm either chatting with family and friends on Facebook, google hangout ing with interest groups, keeping up with friends youtube videos or twittering random thoughts.
Since my recent health scare (now addressed) I have been taking some time to stop and smell the roses. Small bush walks setting wildlife sound recorders in namadgi and spending time with my kids and visiting grand kids.
I may attempt to post more to the blog by way of this blogger app temporarily but old habits die hard and a learning curve will need to be tamed. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks though.
Be back soon...
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Views over the Orroral Valley & Granite tors
A couple of recent videos showing the views into the Orroral Valley and the of the Granite tors in the area from a bushwalker's perspective. I haven't mentioned John Evan's excellent resources on bushwalking in the Australian Capital Territory for a while. John organises the Canberra Bushwalkers Group who organise regular walks in the wilder parts of the place.
I can't recommend him highly enough. Enquiries can be made through...
Johns Blog http://www.johnevans.id.au/
Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnnyBoysWalkabout
Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/115965599477996056898/posts
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Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Corroboree frog fences and an ancient frog fungus
These are Northern Corroboree frogs I photographed at the Tidbinbilla visitors center. The centre has an terrarium style display with moss piles containing living breathing specimens I have visited many times but this was the first time they presented themselves for a real photo.
I have seen them in the wild in the Micalong swamp area west of Canberra however they probably await the same fate as their species partner the Southern Corroboree frog...
It really is dire and the following recent ABC news report shows the current efforts to save a seemingly doomed species...
"It is one of Australia's most iconic species and was once a common sight throughout the Snowy Mountains region in New South Wales. But in the past 20 years the Southern Corroboree Frog has all but disappeared."
Excellent video... Apr 29, 2013 Building a frog-proof fence http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-26/building-a-frog-proof-fence/4654424
The fungus they talk about in the video is discussed in depth in the following ABC Science article...
"The fungus suspected of killing off many of the world's frogs is from an ancient strain that has just recently escaped its niche thanks to globalisation, suggests new research"...
7 May 2013 - Ancient frog fungus spread by globalisation http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/05/07/3752785.htm
I just thought it important that people were aware of the little frogs plight and just how serious it is. I think it is something that people need be aware of.
For more information on the Southern Corroboree frog please visit http://www.corroboreefrog.com.au/corroboree-frog
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History lost through lack of funding
The following ABC article laments the possible loss of many historical audio visual records that are waiting for digitising into modern fo...
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The following ABC article laments the possible loss of many historical audio visual records that are waiting for digitising into modern fo... -
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