244) Something special

Spotted Pardalote

Finally!
We headed over to one of the great bird walks around Enoggera Reservoir to see what we could see. Its still winter here so it was chilly and the birds were slow to become active. As we walked along I heard Nancy's muffled "Diiirk...!" behind me and turned to see her point at something invisible about 3 ' off the ground. "He's here! no there!...". I finally picked out the most cooperative Spotted Pardalote we have even seen.

We have heard, them, seen them, followed them, thrashed through the bush in pursuit, and tried (mostly in vain) to photograph these exquisite birds. They inhabit the HIGH reaches of eucalypts feeding on lerps and such. They have a piecing song making them seem much closer than they are and  I have found them extraordinarily hard to photograph (though some folks claim to be able to "phish" them into coming close, I think my accent is wrong). So finding a pair (I missed the female) mere feet away (I had to back up to focus) and relatively calm was great fun!

Scarlet Robin

Last weekend we took a day to drive to our favorite granite country area in Giraween National Park with some avid birdos from Nancy's lab. Many of the usual suspects were seen but  Megan knew of a out-of-the-way meadow that was chockers with robins. Lo and behold, there were 2 pairs flirting about in various poses. As seen below, these guys rather standout and we could pick them out from a looong way away!

Can you find the Robin?

233) Floating in the Holy Land

Afloat in the Dead Sea

 The ECIS conference was in Tel Aviv this year so I headed to Israel. After the conference, I took a tour over to the Dead Sea- which is a hoot. At 35% salt, *everyone* floats (even me). It is quite hard to "swim", in part because you can't splash or get this stuff in your eyes. But a deep water running motions works well!

Me at the West Gate at Masada - incredible place but a bit warm here in the start of the summer.









Sunrise over th Negev Desert. I was part of the doctoral consortium which stayed at Sde Boker kibbutz for three days. This was the 'back yard'.













Sunset over the valley.













A permanent waterhole in the nearby park. Swimming is not allowed and it closes at dusk to provide a haven for the animal population. A motion-camera has IDed some interesting things!



















A morning hike with the PhD students - good place to clear the mind! That is Adi Katz, the DC organizer leading the way!

Created Lark

Contemplating why people can't get along.... The keynote address was titled "Mystery, Money and Mercy". We have too little of the first, too much of the middle and none of the last. Things here are heating up again with a fair number of incendiary actions...Some people here are not very optimistic..

Sunset over the Med