Trevor's Travels

Wittunga Botanic Gardens Part 2

No Comments »11th July, 2006; Category: Adelaide Hills, Camera, Parks and Gardens, Plants

On our recent visit to Wittunga Botanic Gardens in the Adelaide Hills I was on the lookout for both birds and flowers. The bird sightings I have dealt with on my birding blog. Since buying my digital camera last year I have had a renewed interest in photography and have recently added many photos on the family photo gallery. I attended a photography course at the Gluepot Bird Reserve soon after purchasing the camera.

Flowers in the Wittunga Botanic Gardens

The course I attended gave me many valuable hints about looking at subjects in a different light. The facilitator, professional photographer Craig Ingram, described photography as “painting with light”. Just this little snippet gave me a whole new way of looking at the subjects I try to photograph. I now see my subjects in an entirely new light – pun intended.

Photos of plants like the one above can be enhanced many times by shifting one’s perspective, angle of shooting and the angle of the sunlight falling on the flowers. The trunks of trees fascinate me, with their myriads of colours, textures, shapes and forms. Putting all these elements together can result in some pleasing shots.

Wittunga Botanic Gardens Part 1

1 Comment »10th July, 2006; Category: Adelaide Hills, Botanic Gardens, Parks and Gardens, Plants

Last week we had to travel to our capital city Adelaide, about an hour’s drive from home. On our way home we took a slight detour and visited the Wittunga Botanic Gardens near Blackwood in the Adelaide Hills. It had been quite a few yars since our last visit.

Wittunga Botanic Gardens

While this garden is set in the Adelaide Hills, it is now surrounded by suburbia, with houses on two sides, a transport corridor on another (complete with passenger trains every few minutes) and a large school on the other side. The main access is by means of a busy four lane highway. Despite being hemmed in on all sides, the park is surprisingly peaceful. The gardens have been established for many years and have been planted around existing old growth eucalypts. In the middle an artificial lake provides a beautiful water feature.

Related Articles:

Gluepot Bird Reserve part 3

No Comments »9th July, 2006; Category: General, Photos, Plants, South Australia

Bush scene at Gluepot Bird Reserve.

Gluepot Bird Reserve in South Australia has been set aside for the protection of a significant number of endangered and threatened species of birds. The habitat consists mainly of mallee scrubland, but there are many species of flora present other than the various forms of mallee trees. (Mallee trees are a form of eucalypt tree.)

Wildflowers at Gluepot Reserve

There are many different types of smaller plants from ground creepers through to large bushes, including acacias (commonly called wattles) and eremophilas (emu bushes). One can also find a range of daisies and many other types of plants. When I was there last year the area had received above average rain in autumn and winter. The bushland was like a natural garden, with flowers everywhere. This, of course, is wonderful for the birdlife. Honeyeaters in particular thrive in such conditions.

Flowers at Gluepot Bird Reserve

Related articles:

Gluepot Bird Reserve part 2 – reptiles

No Comments »8th July, 2006; Category: Animals

Bearded Dragon lizard

On my visit last year to the Gluepot Bird Reserve owned and run by Birds Australia I spent a whole day driving and walking the various tracks and walking trails. I didn’t have time to walk all of the tracks so I must return sometime later this year.

The reserve has been especially set aside to protect a large number of threatened and endangered species of bird. Birds like the Black-Eared Miner, a honeyeater, are relatively common in the reserve but elsewhere are very rare. Scarlet-Chested Parrots are also hard to find in other places.

Bearded Dragon lizard

The habitat suitable for these birds is also very good for a range of other species. The flora is particularly interesting and so is the insect and reptile life. The two photos featured on this posting are of two Bearded Dragons, a lizard species, I encountered that day. They were quite accommodating, posing beautifully for me while I took a series of photos.

Related links:

Birds Australia – Australia’s largest birding organisation.

Gluepot Bird Reserve

My photo gallery – photos of birds, animals, flowers and much more.

Gluepot Bird Reserve part 1

2 Comments »7th July, 2006; Category: Birds, Camera, Camping, South Australia

Gluepot Bird Reserve

Last year I travelled to a very special place. About an hour’s drive north of Waikerie in the Riverland area of South Australia is Gluepot Bird Reserve. Gluepot was once a sheep station in what is predominantly mallee country. It is called Gluepot because the various tracks through the property become like a gluepot after even a small amount of rain. Some become impassable after twenty or thirty millimetres of rain. Fortunately this amount of rain only occurs several times a year.

A few years back the property came on the market and was quickly purchased by members of Australia’s largest Birding organisation, Birds Australia. It was already known how rich the bird population was on this sheep property. It has now been established that there are more than a dozen bird species present at Gluepot that are either threatened or endangered. It is one of the few strongholds anywhere of the rare honeyeater, the Black-Eared Miner.

Sunset at Gluepot Bird Reserve

I had been wanting to visit Gluepot for sometime but just hadn’t got around to it. The very first course to be offered there was on developing one’s skills in nature photography. Craig Ingram was the facilitator and I enrolled hoping to learn more about using my recently purchased digital camera, the latest Canon Powershot 2S IS. The weekend was particularly good and I learned many hints on photography.

I will share more photos taken on that weekend over coming days.

Related Links:

Craig Ingram Nature Photography

My photo gallery (including more shots taken at Gluepot)