August 2019

Another month has gone by (and I am a year older) and it is time to give a summary of August. The main news is that our house sale moves forward with the whole deal currently getting State approval. After this is given, which usually takes a month, we agree on a final settlement date. This can take upwards of three months, but our lawyer will press for a shorter time. There is a number of decisions we cannot make yet as we don’t know if we will get a furnished or unfurnished apartment. Currently we prefer the latter so we will not have to get rid of a lot of furniture. We have started looking at what is available and have already found a contender, but price negotiations will have to follow. Currently I am pruning possessions to a more manageable level. The garbage collectors will be glad when this is done.

Helen will continue to teach and at the moment is having to do the odd class in the afternoon because of a waiting list. Nikki has been busy with her house surgeon duties and Dani as energetic as ever with her promotions was jumping puddles in Ireland (and you can see the earth is round).

This is generally a quiet time for nature photography but I have been out a few times. Unfortunately, the news on this front is not good. My ‘bird studio’ at Penanti is now completely flattened and some crops have already been planted there. 

I am left with some great memories of Penanti and the feathered friends....including the most beautiful Kingfisher....ever.

My back-up place also got a beating in a recent storm. It lost a section of a walkway last year and this was repaired but more trees came down this month and damaged an even greater section of the walkway.

I did have an interesting session with a pair of Flameback Woodpeckers at Air Hitam Dalam. Like us they were looking for a house and Mrs Woody felt a depression on the top a palm tree stump was good enough. Mr Woody was not convinced and refused to go and look. She chased him around the tree trunk several times before they went their separate ways. 

It is still a magic place to visit as the sun rises and the roosting Asian Openbill Storks set off for the padi fields.

Sometimes encounters cannot be photographed but the moment is just as uplifting. One morning it was pre-dawn and I could make out silhouettes only and this bird had a crest of some sort and a distinctive call. It turned out to be a Black Baza.....I had photographed the same species about 6 years previously not far from the current location. It is a small to medium-sized raptor.

Its call can be heard here.  The second, third and forth are best.

In the last month I have sold four images, three via the German Bird agency and one to National Geographic.....the giraffe and the aeroplane.

My main appointment with nature has been taking Coco for a walk each morning at her favourite beach. I try to get there each morning as the sun comes up, as I like sunrises and fishing boats. I know most of the fishermen who go to sea at this time. Coco has her favourites as well, Guitar-man, Crab man, and Indian man. Trees along the beachfront were also damaged in the storm. Coco was fascinated by the offerings left out for the Hungry Ghosts.

On the Hari Raya holiday I photographed a line-up of orphan boys who were having a day-at-the-beach treat. Viewing them and talking to their teacher was a humbling experience.

After a lull in sightings we have started seeing otters again. Two were spotted by Helen adjacent to the walkway and I managed to record a sequence of local wild dogs versus an otter family, Dad and his two offspring. While you have seen this spectacle, I place it in the months review for the sake of posterity. The moral of the story....if you want to fight....do it when you have the advantage....and not in the sea with the worlds most agile swimmer who has sharp teeth and large claws.

When Helen and I remember we like going to see the annual orchid show at the Botanic Gardens. There is an amazing array of colours and shapes.

The pub quiz has gone well in the last month with 4 wins and a second.

While keeping the mind agile I have started practicing my bowling again, with assistance and have found a reasonable carpet green on the mainland that I hope to practice on. I have already had two sessions there.

In Brisbane, both Hayley and Phoebe have done well with their netball. They are now a two-dog family.

We will have a few months of chaos when we shift locations. I am planning my photographic targets for  next year. One place of interest is Sulawesi.....and who could resist such targets.