Skywatch : Eve of 2010

On New Year’s Eve, I went to photograph the fireworks display in the city. There was a display scheduled at 8.30 pm which I thought was a good time for me as I rather not wait til midnight.  They had closed some roads at Southbank and condoned off the promenade area so they can check that people don’t bring alcohol in. Hence, I couldn’t park at the usual basement carpark and only found parking about a mile or so away at Kangaroo Point, which wasn’t that bad considering. It’s  a pretty lovely place with vertical cliffs ideal for rockclimbing and abseiling.  I took some pics of the fireworks at 8.30pm from Kangaroo Point but they didn’t turned out very well… I had to walk to Southbank and wait for the midnight countdown and photograph again. Coincidentally , there was a tourist from Indonesia who had also set up a tripod next to where I was at,  an hour before midnight, and he gave me  tips with the manual setting. TQVM for your assistance, kind sir!

Here are some photos I took.

The cliffs at Kangaroo Point

Besides fireworks, I was enticed to photograph people with glowsticks that night.

These are the drug  glowstick dealers.

The treasury casino all litted up in multicolour.

The countdown begins with serpents slithering up and down buildings.

It’s not New Year Eve if there are no fireworks.

Happy New Year 2010!

Get some positive vibes from this guy (who posed willingly in front of my camera).

More sky pics at Skywatch Friday.

Birdwatchers

I went birding at the Brisbane Forest Park with Birds Queensland Assoc this morning. It was a fairly big group to start with and they were walking faster than the photo group , I pretty much lagged behind so I gave up taking pics early and tried to concentrate on spotting birds.

I thought I’d turn the table and see how it looks from a bird’s perspective to watch birdwatchers instead. (Not that I’m a bird).

As you can see, every birdwatcher must be armed with binoculars at least and a hat (it is rather hot now),  as well as a backpack with some fluid to drink to avoid dehydration.

This is the only bird pic that turned out okay compared to the rest.

This is a dollar bird perched high up on a branch, one of the highlights of the trip.

(I also took pics of a kingfisher with a lizard in its beak but it was too far for a clear digital crop.)

Brahminy Kite

We grasp the core only gradually

of each other’s compressed midnights –

black roses flowering in sandy-eyed dawns,

memories stowed to starboard, where a

brahminy’s wings catch first light,

How did we manage it, sailing

on — weathering

Excerpts from Robert Adamson poem ‘Brahminy Kite’.

Black-faced cuckoo shrike swoops kookaburra

Some action I shot in my backyard. The photos are self-explanatory I guess.

A visiting kookaburra to my backyard was swooped not once , not twice, but maybe in excess of 10 times. Poor kookaburra! I admire its coolness against adversity though.

For more great bird pics , visit Bird Photography Weekly #64

Masked Lapwing

Sometimes I would see a small flock of  masked lapwings (Vanellus miles) foraging on the grass around the bikeway and try to capture a pic or two of them but they would fly off screeching or something when I try to come closer . The bird calls aren’t very nice to begin with, almost irritating in comparison with other birdcalls.

 However, I managed to get up close with a masked lapwing in a park the other day as this one stood its ground.

It’s easy to see why.

She had a chick and she gave me real loud alarming warning calls that probably meant “Don’t even think about it! ” in human terms . Although I did get a little closer but not too close - I’ve been rammed on my legs by a mother hen once when I picked up some chicks and that wasn’t very pleasant so I really don’t want to find what this lapwing would do.

This chick is rather cute though, don’t you think? Check out the fluffy stuff around its neck!

 

For more great bird pics, visit Bird Photography Weekly #62.

The sky is overcast

- The sky is overcast
With a continuous cloud of texture close,
Heavy and wan, all whitened by the Moon,
Which through that veil is indistinctly seen,
A dull, contracted circle, yielding light
So feebly spread, that not a shadow falls,
Chequering the ground–from rock, plant, tree, or tower.
At length a pleasant instantaneous gleam
Startles the pensive traveller while he treads
His lonesome path, with unobserving eye
Bent earthwards; he looks up–the clouds are split
Asunder,–and above his head he sees
The clear Moon, and the glory of the heavens.
There, in a black-blue vault she sails along,
Followed by multitudes of stars, that, small
And sharp, and bright, along the dark abyss
Drive as she drives: how fast they wheel away,
Yet vanish not!–the wind is in the tree,
But they are silent;–still they roll along
Immeasurably distant; and the vault,
Built round by those white clouds, enormous clouds,
Still deepens its unfathomable depth.
At length the Vision closes; and the mind,
Not undisturbed by the delight it feels,
Which slowly settles into peaceful calm,
Is left to muse upon the solemn scene.

William Wordsworth

Rainbow Bee-eaters

Rainbow bee-eaters

Wings fuelled

by the knowledge of bees

 

turning on axles of air

each crescent beak

 

An orange-coloured talisman

Once snowy-headed elders

 

gathered honey bags

in turpentine forests

 

feathery blurs eating bees

hovering miracles

 

alongside ancient cliffs

flashed brightly

 

Your film exposed to them

transparencies

to stay love by catching day

light on pages

 

the translucent calligraphy

of wings

 

by Robert Adamson, The Goldfinches of Baghdad

Such a mirage of my mind..

When I was in primary school , every Monday morning , we would have assembly and the whole school would have to sing  a few songs . One morning , we sang and and after we finished the music teacher asked, “Who’s that person with that voice?” Nobody owned up.

She was adamant  and insisted every row to sing a line or two. She played the piano and went row by row to see who it was. It wasn’t very hard to pinpoint whoever it was. The children didn’t sing very eagerly (except that person.) And the next morning , when we were lining up outside to go into class she came up to me and asked me to join the choir. I said okay.Being naturally bashful as a kid,  I didn’t apply to be in the choir… but that was how I got in!

A song the choir had to sing for a school play, loosely based on the Arabian Nights  : 

Such a mirage of my mind

I have travelled far to find

Visions fragile as a breeze

An illusion made to please

mirage be mine , mirage be mine

Blazing in the desert glare

See the answer to my prayer

One to perfect to be real

At who’s feet I long to kneel

Mirage be mine , mirage be mine

Put your gentle hands in mine

As we tread the sands of time

Love forever join like hands

Strong against the drifting sand…

Skywatch: A study with a view

I was taking pics of trees in the Botanic Gardens when I came across these guys. Actually, I didn’t notice them at first, as I was busy taking pics of the tree they were sitting under, from a distance. Then when I came closer, I noticed they were gawking at me , like wondering what on earth is she doing? !… So I thought I ‘d get my own back. Hehehe. (Sorry guys if you happen to stumble across this post. All in good humour.)

 

Cute intellectual types, having a study group session in Spanish judging from the books on the table.

 

A lovely place to study or read a book. This is how the view looks like from where we were. 

 I love the way the mangrove tree grows slanting up from the river bank.

 

 

The famous landmark Storey bridge in the distance where they organize climbs to the top if you’re into that sort of thing.

 

For more blogs with sky pics. visit Skywatch Friday.

Autumn days when the grass is jewelled..

It’s Spring in the Southern hemisphere but my memory still connotes this time of the year with Autumn. 

A song I used to sing in primary school, practically all primary school kids in the UK would have sung  this song at some point…

Autumn days, when the grass is jewelled
And the silk inside a chestnut shell.
Jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled
All the things I love so well.
So I mustn’t forget…
No I mustn’t forget…
To say a great big thank you I mustn’t forget.
 

 

Go to this blog for full lyrics.

You can also check out the melody at youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9mvrkQbzgc