Zen: Sunset

Amidst Death and Destruction: Wildlife Rescue

Nothing can compensate for the devastating loss of human life and property in the Victorian bushfires. It is also estimated that the loss of wildlife has also been enormous – more than a million marsupials, reptiles, and birds. Their habitat has also been destroyed.

Sam was rescued by CFA firefighter David Tree while he was fighting the fire at Mirboo North. She has since become an international celebrity via video footage and slideshows. The video shows Sam drinking a bottle of water; reports confirm that she drank a total of three bottles of water. This is remarkable since koalas do not normally drink water but obtain moisture from eucalypt leaves and water droplets on the foliage. Sam is recovering at Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson where she has been befriended by a male koala, Bob.


According to reports, Sam is one of 22 koalas, 14 ringtail possums, several wallabies and eastern grey kangaroos that are being cared for in Gippsland.

Another wildlife ‘save’ was a baby sugar glider which was rescued by Yarra Glen CFA firefighter Darren Thompson. We haven’t heard any more about this glider. Hopefully it is recovering also.

Bushfires: Victoria, Australia

The Australian bush is one of the most beautiful places on earth. The grandeur of gum and wattle trees contrasts with the dry, brown grasses in the summer. But this beauty belies its dark side. Grass fires spread fast and far. Most of the plants and trees are rich in volatile oils that protect them against dry conditions but fuel fierce bushfires when the conditions are right. And the conditions were right. Temperatures reached as high as 117 F and the winds reached 60 mph. Perfect conditions to fan fires that move at breakneck speed. Fires erupted throughout Victoria and firefighters, many of whom are volunteers, are currently battling 31 fires. Fires jump containment lines. Firefighters can only get out of the way and retreat to another place to fight again.















The toll so far: 108 people dead and at least 78 people hospitalized – many in critical condition. Hospitals have run out of morphine to treat burn victims. More than 3700 people have registered with the Red Cross. These numbers may be conservative estimates.
















The destruction is extensive. In some areas, towns have been completely or almost completely destroyed. The images of the fires and destruction are overwhelming.

More than 750 homes have been destroyed. In addition to homes, farmers have lost dairies, sheds, equipment, livestock and feed. Where livestock survived, they are left with little or no feed and will have to be sold or moved to other properties in areas not affected by the fires.

Stories of firefighters who lost loved ones while they were fighting the fires, loved ones lost when they unable to flee or trying to save animals, loved ones lost when trying to flee but being trapped in their cars in the flames. These fires are merciless. The extent of the tragedy is only beginning to emerge.

Photo collections:
- Gippsland fires
- Victoria’s Killer Fires
- Reader’s Photos
- Volunteer Firefighter’s Photos
- Day of Mourning
- Aussie Spirit
- Victoria Still Burning: Fires at Upwey, Warburton and Daylesford
- ABC News: Bushfire Emergency
- ABC News: User-submitted Photos

Updates:
Fatalities: 173

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Since the trees lost their leaves, the grass turned brown and there are no more butterflies, you tend to notice other things. I didn’t really notice hawks until recently. I’d seen them around but hadn’t noticed them on the power lines on my commute home until recently. I’d started to see this one frequently on power lines on the same section of road. When I first tried to stop and take photos he flew off. Gradually he became used to my stopping and has let me get closer. This is about as close as I can get – across the road and almost level with him. He looks a little ruffled and so he should. The temperature was in the low 30s F and the wind was measured at about 17 mph with gusts up to 27 mph this afternoon. I don’t think the hunting was good; I doubt many rodents were out and about. Sometimes being ‘free as a bird’ isn't all it’s cracked up to be.

Australia Day, 2009

Today is Australia Day – at least it’s January 26th in the Northern Hemisphere; it’s already January 27th in Australia. But it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it.

For my American friends, Australia Day is Australia’s national day – equivalent to July 4th in the United States – and commemorates the date on which the First Fleet, consisting of 11 ships – two warships (Sirius and Supply), six convict transports (Alexander. Charlotte. Friendship, Lady Penrhyn, Prince Of Wales, Scarborough), and three supply ships (Golden Grove, Fishburn, Borrowdale) - sailed into Sydney Cove (now Sydney) to establish the first British settlement in Australia. Aussies have a funny sense of humor. They commemorate the founding of a penal settlement. And it was all the American’s fault since they fought a war of independence that resulted in the Brits no longer being able to view the American colonies for penal settlements.

Life in early Australia was harsh but Aussies were also a sentimental bunch as illustrated in their poetry. Periodically, I think about the only Banjo (Andrew Barton) Patterson poem I learned in high school. It’s not ‘Waltzing Matilda’ or ‘The Man from Snowy River,’ it’s ‘Clancy of the Overflow’ and was written more than 20 years after my family migrated to Australia from England which puts it in some perspective for me. The sentiments are more than 100 years old but I think that many of us can connect with them even today.

Clancy of the Overflow

I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,
He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just "on spec", addressed as follows, "Clancy, of The Overflow".
And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,
(And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)
Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it:
"Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are."

In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy
Gone a-droving "down the Cooper" where the Western drovers go;
As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,
For the drover's life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars.

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy
Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,
And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city
Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all

And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle
Of the tramways and the buses making hurry down the street,
And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,
Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.

And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,
With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy,
For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.

And I somehow rather fancy that I'd like to change with Clancy,
Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,
While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the journal --
But I doubt he'd suit the office, Clancy, of "The Overflow".

Banjo Paterson, 1889

MooseCam: Anchorage, Alaska

I stumbled on Moose Cam and have been visiting almost every day for more than a year. The cam is mounted at about second-floor level looking towards a lake. Since trees don’t grow as tall in Alaska as they do further south, it was hard to tell how far the cam was from the lake and how big one could expect any animals to be.

Until yesterday! Finally, I saw moose. Although the site indicates that the images are refreshed every three minutes, I kept on hitting refresh and captured a series of images. The webmaster must have seen them too and zoomed in to where two moose were visible. Now I know what I'm looking for.




What a thrill!

Loose with a Camera …

I haven’t used a camera for a long time – not since I had a Minolta SRT-101 many years ago. I hated wasting film and you really have to take a lot of shots to get the good ones. As a result, I didn’t get out to do much photography. Digital photography has changed all that. I row row regularly on the Marburg Creek Reservoir at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia. It wasn’t until I started rowing on the lake in early 2001 that I really appreciated how fascinating the lake was. The scenery changes throughout the year and there are always something of interesting to see - from scenic features to seasonal changes in flowering plants, animals, turtles, etc. It was the drought of 2007 that brought the camera issue to a head. The lowering lake level revealed features that are normally not visible; it was a unique opportunity to record the changes. I hinted that W should let me take his camera out on the lake. Not. A. Chance! (Can't say I blame him though).

So I lobbied for a digital camera for my birthday. Based on my experience with the Minolta, I knew I wanted a telephoto lens and macro capability; I only use wide-angle when absolutely necessary. Since I would be photographing from a rowing shell, I really didn’t want to have to change lenses; it needed to be an ‘all-in-one’ solution. Although I’m a pretty competent rower, there are too many opportunities to drop a camera in the water. I hated the idea of a case since it would make the camera more cumbersome to handle but it would be a necessary evil. In a rowing shell, I wouldn’t have the luxury of letting go of the oars; I would have to hook my arms over the handles or shafts to keep the boat balanced. I would be able to dangle my legs over each side of the boat to increase the stability but it would only help a little and wouldn’t be practical in winter.

I got an Olympus SP-56OUZ; it has a fixed ED lens with 27 mm wide angle and an 18x optical zoom (27-486mm equivalent), 8 megapixels, and Dual Image Stabilization.

When I go out to the lake, I put the bag in the stern of the cockpit, take the lens cover off the waterproof case, and lay the case on top of a carrying bag with the wrist strap where I can reach it with a little bit of effort. This system works well because I inevitably get water in the cockpit when I get in the boat. With the bag on the cockpit deck, the waterproof camera case stays dry. Although the waterproof case is cumbersome, it has worked out really well. I have gotten used to lining the boat up with what I want to photograph and levering the oar handles between my body and arms to stabilize the boat. I don’t have to worry about ruining the camera if I drop it in the water or flip my boat. It can be a challenge to photograph something up in a tree, but the challenge is as more about stabilizing the boat than actually capturing the image. There’s a real upside to the waterproof case as well. The camera is so relatively small that it would be really easy to drop it in the water; I actually feel safer having it in something the waterproof case.


It’s great to be able to capture images on the water without having to worry about wasting film, photograph in all weather conditions and, finally, be able to capture memories that I’ll be able to enjoy for years and share with friends.