above: female Superb Blue Wren, NSW
above: male Superb Blue Wren, NSW
above: young male (or eclipse male) Superb Blue Wren, NSWclick on a photo to view hi-res image :: click on a label to open all related posts
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Superb Blue Wren Family (93)
Another family. This time nothing 'unusual' happened. They just posed for quick photos and went on with their wren business.
above: female Superb Blue Wren, NSW
above: male Superb Blue Wren, NSW
above: young male (or eclipse male) Superb Blue Wren, NSW
above: female Superb Blue Wren, NSWabove: male Superb Blue Wren, NSWabove: young male (or eclipse male) Superb Blue Wren, NSW
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Black-winged Stilt XXX
This interesting action took place in the middle of the swamp, quite far away from the photographer and only lasted a few seconds. I was observant enough to detect that something unusual was going on and the camera was good enough to take some 20-25 images and document the scene.
And the image below shows how the babies will look like if they survive past the egg stage.
Black-winged Stilt, NSWclick on a photo to view hi-res image :: click on a label to open all related posts
Friday, July 3, 2009
Three 'funny' shots
Suggestions for captions are welcome!
above: blank caption
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above: blank captionclick on a photo to view hi-res image :: click on a label to open all related posts
Be sure not to miss :)
A great story to read and some very nice Grey Fantail photos to see.
Birds in Tasmania: Magic moments... Grey Fantail.
Black-winged Stilt (97)
Black-winged Stilt, NSWclick on a photo to view hi-res image :: click on a label to open all related posts
Best Blog Friend :)
Who is my best blogging friend?
I have more than one!
So, dear Mick, Grace, Rosey, Gouldiae, Dave and Denis, this little owl is for you!
I have more than one!
The most rewarding thing about blogging was the support and encouragement of like-minded people.
The positive comments under some of the better photos, the interesting information and experiences that people share in a friendly way - this is what has motivated me to keep posting beyond the time of initial enthusiasm.
I feel extremely grateful and happy to have virtually met these people and wanted to do something more than just saying "Thank you" which I usually do in replies to comments (and it is a bit worn out).
The only virtual gift I could think of was a badge for their blogs, a 'thank you, you're my best blog friend' badge. So I drew a little picture and here it is:
It comes accompanied with a big smile. I really enjoy reading your fantastic blogs, learning new things, seeing what you have seen and sharing virtual friendship.
You can pass the badge to other people, if you like. You can put it on the side bars of your blogs, if you like it, or just save it to your HDDs. It's up you. It comes with no rules, requirements or obligations.
Your blogs are great and you are my best blog friends!
Cheers!
Nickolay
Australian White Ibis (99)
Australian White Ibis, NSWclick on a photo to view hi-res image :: click on a label to open all related posts
#400
Another milestone. Four hundred posts.
Things have changed a bit since I started blogging. I don't know whether 400 is a lot. It doesn't seem to be. But the enthusiasm levels are definitely getting lower and lower. Not that I'm tired, I'm just less focused...
Facts
About a year ago I started receiving some general statistic data about this blog and also checking the ratings that Google web search and Google image search give to photos published here. The results are interesting.
Nearly every search for a bird that's been published and labeled here will display one of my images on the first page of results. A Google search about Australian Animals Blog or similar returns this blog as a first result. Many other searches get listed among the first ten.
This generates a lot of traffic. Thousands of clicks, visitors from all over the world.
Unfortunately, 99,99% of them are in a hurry to steal a picture and go away.
I've had some unpleasant cases of my photos being used on commercial websites or for purposes which I would have never approved. Most of them were taken down after serious warnings.
This made me change the copyright notice at the bottom of the page and make it much more restrictive.
None of the people who saved and used my photos on their sites, blogs or for offline needs has ever contacted me to let me know or say 'thanks'.
I have received only one email from one person, saying that he enjoyed the photos.
Support
In contrast to the general trend, there have been a few very supportive and encouraging blog-friends, who are more or less responsible for the current existence of this blog. If these good people and fantastic bloggers weren't around, showing their friendship and support, I would have given up about 6 months ago. I will have a dedicated post about this later.
Achievements
I have improved my photographic and web design skills. I have 'met' great people and shared some exciting moments with them.
Objectives
I will try to keep posting at least four times a month for the next 100 posts and see how things go.
I will try to take fewer photos as the current amounts are flooding me and I'm really struggling with file management, tagging and archiving.
I will try to keep improving my photographic skills further and push my gear beyond its limits as I won't be able to upgrade in a foreseeable future.
I will try to find a way of labeling all the species with their scientific Latin names, so that the blog can serve as a searchable web resource.
Disappointments
I have found out that Australia commits large scale wildlife slaughter and is extremely hypocritical in this respect. I don't see moral right to talk against whaling, if you can't ban a medieval anti-humane industry in your own country. Using Kangaroos to attract tourists, sell products and brands and at the same time killing millions of them in the same way they used to kill Koalas, Tasmanian Tigers and tens of other species is truly disgusting.
I will keep the link to the online petition at the top of this blog at least until the end of 2009.
Looking at the signatures one can easily notice that most of them come from overseas. Australians, in their majority, do not care. Of course, if they did care the situation would have been very different.
I have traveled a lot around the world. The amount of animals killed alongside Australian roads is incomparable to any other civilized country. There are too many people here who just love running over a possum, a wombat, an echidna or a roo.
There is an ugly face of contemporary Australia, very well made up and hidden from the world. I thought that things have changed a lot in the post WW2 era. I have been very wrong. Environmentalists, wildlife carers, normal good people paint a plausible and acceptable facade, unintentionally hiding the crimes against Life.
The world often sees melodramatic images of rescued baby koalas, wombats and wallabies. Twenty babies are saved from the pouches of their dead mothers, killed in road accidents, photographed and faxed to every newspaper on the planet. Thousands, who have their healthy mothers shot for meat and skin are beheaded or beaten to death. No one mentions it. Why disturb the good sleep of the voter.
I don't want to offend readers by generalizing and saying Australians. But if there were enough responsible and caring people in this country, things would have been different. Kangaroos do not belong to Australians, they are a part of Earth's Fauna, a very unique part.
Australia is marketed as a Wildlife Paradise. It actually is Wildlife Hell.
Count down
I will keep counting down the next one hundred posts, even though I haven't decided what will happen when we hit zero.
[edit 5 Aug 2009] I have finally taken a decision. The 500th post will be the last one for this blog. So, enjoy it while it lasts.
Things have changed a bit since I started blogging. I don't know whether 400 is a lot. It doesn't seem to be. But the enthusiasm levels are definitely getting lower and lower. Not that I'm tired, I'm just less focused...
Facts
About a year ago I started receiving some general statistic data about this blog and also checking the ratings that Google web search and Google image search give to photos published here. The results are interesting.
Nearly every search for a bird that's been published and labeled here will display one of my images on the first page of results. A Google search about Australian Animals Blog or similar returns this blog as a first result. Many other searches get listed among the first ten.
This generates a lot of traffic. Thousands of clicks, visitors from all over the world.
Unfortunately, 99,99% of them are in a hurry to steal a picture and go away.
I've had some unpleasant cases of my photos being used on commercial websites or for purposes which I would have never approved. Most of them were taken down after serious warnings.
This made me change the copyright notice at the bottom of the page and make it much more restrictive.
None of the people who saved and used my photos on their sites, blogs or for offline needs has ever contacted me to let me know or say 'thanks'.
I have received only one email from one person, saying that he enjoyed the photos.
Support
In contrast to the general trend, there have been a few very supportive and encouraging blog-friends, who are more or less responsible for the current existence of this blog. If these good people and fantastic bloggers weren't around, showing their friendship and support, I would have given up about 6 months ago. I will have a dedicated post about this later.
Achievements
I have improved my photographic and web design skills. I have 'met' great people and shared some exciting moments with them.
Objectives
I will try to keep posting at least four times a month for the next 100 posts and see how things go.
I will try to take fewer photos as the current amounts are flooding me and I'm really struggling with file management, tagging and archiving.
I will try to keep improving my photographic skills further and push my gear beyond its limits as I won't be able to upgrade in a foreseeable future.
I will try to find a way of labeling all the species with their scientific Latin names, so that the blog can serve as a searchable web resource.
Disappointments
I have found out that Australia commits large scale wildlife slaughter and is extremely hypocritical in this respect. I don't see moral right to talk against whaling, if you can't ban a medieval anti-humane industry in your own country. Using Kangaroos to attract tourists, sell products and brands and at the same time killing millions of them in the same way they used to kill Koalas, Tasmanian Tigers and tens of other species is truly disgusting.
I will keep the link to the online petition at the top of this blog at least until the end of 2009.
Looking at the signatures one can easily notice that most of them come from overseas. Australians, in their majority, do not care. Of course, if they did care the situation would have been very different.
I have traveled a lot around the world. The amount of animals killed alongside Australian roads is incomparable to any other civilized country. There are too many people here who just love running over a possum, a wombat, an echidna or a roo.
There is an ugly face of contemporary Australia, very well made up and hidden from the world. I thought that things have changed a lot in the post WW2 era. I have been very wrong. Environmentalists, wildlife carers, normal good people paint a plausible and acceptable facade, unintentionally hiding the crimes against Life.
The world often sees melodramatic images of rescued baby koalas, wombats and wallabies. Twenty babies are saved from the pouches of their dead mothers, killed in road accidents, photographed and faxed to every newspaper on the planet. Thousands, who have their healthy mothers shot for meat and skin are beheaded or beaten to death. No one mentions it. Why disturb the good sleep of the voter.
I don't want to offend readers by generalizing and saying Australians. But if there were enough responsible and caring people in this country, things would have been different. Kangaroos do not belong to Australians, they are a part of Earth's Fauna, a very unique part.
Australia is marketed as a Wildlife Paradise. It actually is Wildlife Hell.
Count down
I will keep counting down the next one hundred posts, even though I haven't decided what will happen when we hit zero.
[edit 5 Aug 2009] I have finally taken a decision. The 500th post will be the last one for this blog. So, enjoy it while it lasts.
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