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| Red-backed Fairy-Wren male Upper Lockyer, Queensland, August 28, 2011 |
Michael Atzeni showed me around the Murphys Creek and Upper Lockyer area on August 28, 2011. It was my first visit since the devastating floods of January 10th. Can't believe we were birding there exactly a week before the disaster. I left for Japan on January 9th and learned about it when I finished my journey and put on CNN and the BBC and of course, the internet.
I have visited a property there many times in recent years and I was shocked to see the damage that had been done. Watch this Youtube video of the the actual flood there.
There was a terrible loss of human life in the surrounding areas and irreparable damage done to homes and properties but when I saw this video my thoughts were for the Platypus that I'd seen and photographed just last year. It was such a peaceful little stream (creek) and I thought for sure they couldn't have survived the force of the waters.
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| Lace Monitor The photos above and below are from a couple of years ago. Looking down to the stream behind the goanna. |
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| This is a cottage at the property before the floods. Photograph by Michael Atzeni |
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| Looking down to the creek. The flood well underway. Photograph by Michael Atzeni |
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| The flood increases.. Photograph by Michael Atzeni |
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| ..and increases. Photograph by Michael Atzeni |
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| The cottage survived. Right on the edge. |
Above and below: Aerial photographs by Michael Atzeni of the scars.
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| The cottage right in the centre. |
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| In the centre of this photograph you can see the stairs that once were surrounded by trees and shrubs. Even the colours have been washed away.. Photograph by me on August 28, 2011 |
More photos taken on August 28, 2011 below:
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| Grey Fantail August 28, 2011 |
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| Yellow-rumped Thornbill and below: |
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| Jacky Winter ID'd by Michael Atzeni |
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| Scarlet Honeyeater (want a better pic of one of these) |
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| Buff-rumped Thornbill and below gathering nesting materials and applying them into the side of a tree.. |
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| Platypus August 28, 2011 |
It was great to see all of these beautiful birds there but the most exciting sights for the day were not just one,... but two (2) Platypus!!! The first time they had been seen since the disaster.
Let's hope things can heal...
4 comments:
I always wonder how birds and other animals that live on the ground cope with sudden floods.
Nice shots of the platypus here! I really wish to see it once. It's just so enigmatic. And the Red-backed Fairy-wren is also looking great!
I think the birds and animals could teach us humans a thing or two about survival.
Wow a platypus!
I only saw one platypus in OZ and I only saw one Red Backed Fairy Wren too (on a nasty hot day hitchhiking I recall)
Wow. There's so much here. The platypus is so very cool. I haven't had the priviledge of spotting one of these yet. Dare I say, I kind of like the new rocky landscape the flood created - a reminder that our Earth continues to be shaped by nature. (sorry for the loss of life) Your birds are fantastic as always!
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