Drummoyne Reservoir

Drummoyne is a leafy suburb in Sydney’s Inner West that is surrounded on three sides by Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River.  While the waterfront properties have views of the magnificent harbour, those in the centre of Drummoyne have views of the Heritage Listed Drummoyne Reservoir (a.k.a. the Tank).

The Drummoyne Reservoir is one of a group of four elevated steel water supply service reservoirs built between 1910 and 1915 as part of the Sydney metropolitan water supply system. It served as a storage reservoir for Drummoyne from 1913 until the mid-1960s. It was formally disconnected from the system in 1994.

In a move that is being opposed by the local Council, Sydney Water is proposing selling off the Reservoir on the open market. Canada Bay Council is currently seeking signatures for a petition requesting that the site be retained as a public asset, restored and decontaminated, and used as a public park.

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Big Cats: Predators under threat

Saturday March 3rd 2018 is World Wildlife Day. This year’s focus is “Big Cats: Predators Under Threat”.

All the world’s big cats are facing various threats. But it is still possible to protect these extraordinary animals and the places they inhabit. Find more on wildlifeday.org

The Sumatran tiger is an apex predator and plays a critical role in balancing the ecosystem, but sadly it’s estimated there are less than 400 left in the wild.

You can make a real difference by buying products made by Australian companies that only use RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil.

Australian Reptiles

It’s the Australia Day long weekend and time to celebrate some of our wonderful Australian wildlife.

• Freshwater Crocodile
• Coastal Taipan
• Blue Tongue
• Inland Taipan
• Red-bellied Black Snake
• Amathystine Python
• Centralian Carpet Python
• Olive Python
• Eastern Water Dragon
• Frilled-neck Lizard

Australian Animals

It’s the Australia Day long weekend and time to celebrate some of our wonderful Australian wildlife.

• Echidna
• Koala
• Quokka
• Wallaby
• Kangaroo

Australian Birds

It’s the Australia Day long weekend and time to celebrate some of our wonderful Australian wildlife.

• Little penguin
• Galah
• Little black cormorant
• Sulphur-crested cockatoo
• White-faced heron
• Kookaburra
• Australian Pelican
• Superb lyrebird
• Australian wood duck
• Wedge-tailed eagle
• Australian magpie
• Yellow-tailed black cockatoo
• Brush turkey
• Rainbow lorikeet

Gorilla conservation & Dian Fossey

January 16th 2018 would have been Dian Fossey’s 86th birthday. Dian was known for her study of mountain gorillas in Rawanda. Along with Jane Goodall (chimpanzees) and Birute Galdikas (orangutans), Dian Fossey was recognised as one of the world’s foremost primatologists.

For more gorilla photos take a look at my Gorilla collection on Redbubble.

Straya!

Many people from other countries have preconceptions about Australia. When travelling Australians often find themselves having to explain to others that no, there are not kangaroos hopping down the street in the middle of the city. They live in the countryside or occasionally in isolated pockets of bushland or National Park in quiet suburban areas. Then this happens:

“Wallaby hops along Sydney Harbour Bridge, surprising early morning motorists” (from ABC News)

While I wasn’t on the bridge in the early hours of this morning to get a photo of the wayward wallaby, I have previous taken photos of the wallabies resident at Taronga Zoo.

Photo taken at Taronga Zoo, Sydney on a Nikon Coolpix P610.

This image is available to purchase on a range of products on Zazzle and Redbubble.

Kangaroo

With the summer heat combined with the long school holidays, many parents are probably feeling like they would happily join this kangaroo in taking a quiet nap under the shade of a tree around about now.

Photo taken at Taronga Zoo, Sydney on a Nikon Coolpix P610.

 

Olive Python

The summer holidays are the off-season for many TV shows. This year that meant that a few of the stations put full seasons of the old Australian dramas onto their streaming services so as you could binge on classic Aussie drama. It seems as though every long-running Australian drama must have an episode featuring a life-and-death encounter with a venomous snake. Not surprisingly, they don’t seem to want to expose their actors to actual life threatening situations so they will often have a much more friendly non-venomous snake like this olive python play the part of the snake.

While not venomous, the olive python is one of Australia’s largest pythons, growing to almost 4 metres. They can be found across northern Australia in mountain ranges and savannah woodlands and favour rocky gorges and watercourses. They are mainly nocturnal and will shelter in rock crevices and hollows during the day. They are great swimmers and will hunt in water.

This image is available to purchase on a range of products on Redbubble.

Sydney’s waterways

With searing temperatures, we’re in the middle of a tough couple of days here in Sydney. The cooler coastal areas of the city had temperatures yesterday reaching 43°C/109°F, with the western suburbs soaring to 47°C/117°F. Some are lucky enough to have air-conditioning and backyard pools but others need to find other ways to beat the heat. Perhaps it’s a good time to head down to the waterside in the hopes of the breeze coming off the water being slightly cooler? Time once again to show some appreciation for our glorious rivers, harbour and beaches!