Semi-Wild Australia

“Elixir of life”

I see water as the elixir of life and find it a little alarming to think how volatile life on Earth is due to this. When you consider that weather is largely shaped by a simple factor like the surface temperatures of the oceans and how the weather affects every living organism in one way or another. The widespread affect is clearly seen when there is no rainfall.

This is the best image I have from my area to try depict the drought that many inland parts of Australia are currently experiencing. Parts of inland Queensland were experiencing long-term rainfall deficits and the systems which usually bring rain simply haven't come for New South Wales, with 100% of NSW now declared to be in drought. As a result many of our primary producers experiencing extreme hardship, witnessing their livelihood die before their eyes.

We just experienced the driest autumn since 1902 which was the tail end of a 7 or 8 year drought. Historical weather tends before human records can be seen from studying corals, ice cores, tree rings and caves and they confirm extreme weather events are nothing new. But I find it alarming to think what will happen if sea temperatures continue to rise. I don’t care for debating if are we to blame or is it a natural cycle. I don’t think you need to be a scientist to work out that we must have some contributing effect on climates, with all the modifications we have made to Earth, how could there not be consequences in such a volatile place. But we will never solve such large issues until we start being more accountable, informed and start working together to try and tackle the source of the problems. We can’t control everything, but we can work with it and if we can’t solve the problem, as least we will have found ways to minimise the devastation caused by them. If we sit back and do nothing, we will be forever putting bandages on wounds, trying to fix the dying. Oops sorry I got a little deep there :)

Buy a Bale of Hay - Making a difference to Australian Farming Families is a great support campaign, which is allowing many practical ways to help our drought affected farmers. Check it out https://www.buyabale.com.au/donate/

#buyabale #Drought #DroughtRelief #NewSouthWales #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #seeaustralia #JoshBett #bird #Cockatoos #AustralianWildlife #Australia #Wildlife #ausgeo ... See more

“Pomingalarna & Gobbagumbalin”

Pomingalarna Park is a sacred place that I can see from my doorstep, it's where I take many of my images. Sometimes I feel like Pomingalarna & Gobbagumbalin are watching me.

Many years ago two local groups of Wiradjuri people occupied either side of the Murrumbidgee River, in the vicinity of Wagga Wagga, the river forming the boundary between the two territories. The groups were generally friendly towards each other.

Each had its own tribal laws which they adhered to with undeviating strictness, breeches being punished with great severity.

A day came when one of the young men, Gobbagumbalin, the son of two of the elders, saw Pomingalarna, a gadgi migay (beautiful girl), one of the neighbouring group, & falling in love with her decided to make her his wife. However the girl had been promised to a warrior of her own group.

The two met secretly, and for a while these meetings passed unobserved, but in time they were discovered.
Some of the old men warned the youth that he must see no more of the girl and any continuance of their meetings would be looked upon as a grave breech of tribal law and would be punishable.

Such passion existed between the young couple that they decided to elope, although they knew that such action would make them outsiders forever.
They decided that Gobbagumbalin should cross the river at a spot where the girl would await him, then the two would recross the stream together and hasten to the depths of the ranges.

On a dark night the young man swam across the river and found the woman waiting for him. Hand in hand they entered the water to swim silently towards the farther shore. However as they reached the centre of the muddy stream, a storm of spears directed from both sides of the river fell hissing into the water around them.

Both Pomingalarna & Gobbagumbalin, mortally wounded, sank beneath the water, tightly clasping each others arms.

Such was the tragic death of the lovers, and today the frogs still mourn their fate. Those on one side of the Murrumbidgee cry Gobbagumbalin whilst those on the opposite side cry Pomingalarna.

If tempted to doubt the truth of the story the Wiradjuri people say you only have to listen to the morning shout of the frogs, which may be heard any hot night in summer.

You can download a Pomingalarna & Gobbagumbalin poster here: https://www.museumriverina.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/40133/Pomingalarna-and-Gobbagumbalun-web.pdf ... See more

Flies are THE enemy here in Australia, being bothered by swarm of flies is no one’s idea of fun, it’s even worse when you swallow one, I’ve swallowed common houseflies on multiple occasions, leave me a comment if you know what I’m talking about.

But this one is a much larger blowfly, dubbed by us Aussies as a “blowie”. It would have been around 15mm long, so I was able to capture some close detail without the use of my macro equipment.

There are over 140 species of blowfly in Australia, I’m uncertain exactly what this one is, but no doubt it is just like the rest, feeding on disgusting things like faeces, decaying flesh on live animals and fresh carrion. They are particularly disliked by sheep graziers, as they lay larvae known as maggots in soiled wool or open wounds of sheep, which is known as Flystrike and it can be fatal. So farmers have to remove the wool around the butt of the sheep as a preventative, which is known as Mulesing.

Blowies are a favourite macro subject of mine though, with their big faceted compound eyes and colourful metallic complexion. ... See more

Fog, it’s difficult to work with, but it can make an interesting and moody image, so I’m drawn to it. I was lucky to get the rare opportunity to capture a bit of directional light in this fog, which gives a bit of form to the subject. Big bucks like this fella, don’t appreciate unwanted company in poor visibility situations. This one stopped to pose for me, he was trying to get a good look at me as much as I was of him, he was no doubt trying to see if I pose a threat to his mob. You can’t tell in this image but this roo and its mob resides in the middle of the city, motorists are always surprised when they hit kangaroos in the nearby suburban street, it’s what I call a typical semi-wild habitat. ... See more