A loop for Perth

It has been a little since I camped on the beach south of Geraldton now… In fact I just arrived in Perth. Seems like that took awhile huh? But maybe I am getting ahead of myself here… It has been a busy week!

After leaving the Geraldton coast, I headed towards a small town, again on the WA coast: Cervantes. Along the way, I had to tear myself away from a site where I found 11 different species of native bee for fear of the time required to photograph and edit them! I thought that maybe it would be best to rush on to Cervantes to begin the lengthy process. There wasn’t a great deal to the town itself, but that never really matters when you have a great hostel to stay in, and some great guests to talk to! They even took it in stride when I brought a big drawer full of camera equipment into the common room and began flashing and pinning insects for a 5-6 hour marathon of photography! It’s amazing what becomes normal when you stay in hostels…

The cuckoo bee from Geraldton airport, quite common in the area it seems

Some WA coast from the road south… lots of beach shacks!

A field full of Xanthorrhoea (grass trees)

Amongst the Xanthorrhoea, a happy place to be! Until it starts to rain…

After a short, relaxing stay in Cervantes, it was time to make the even shorter journey to the big smoke. Or at least a big smoke, Perth. Believe it or not, Perth is actually a very pleasant and pretty city, certainly parts of it are! I spent a bit of time exploring the CBD, which had several awesome arcades and a fair bit of cool as graffiti! I also headed down to Fremantle on Pippa’s awesome recommendation, to discover ‘WA’s best fish and chips’ (I can’t disprove them yet), and an awesome part of the city that really doesn’t feel like the rest of the city.

Yep, certainly in the city

One of the arcades: London Court. Home to a very helpful camera repair man!

Perth Graffiti, take that Melbourne!

 

At the very least, some really freaking great fish and chips in Freemantle!

This house also seems disappointed that it is deprived of its god-given right to practice parkour and freestyle BMXing!

After taking in the sites and picking up a friend form the States, I had to get my car serviced and honour a meeting with Terry Houston (previous curator of insects, native bee researcher and native bee expert) and Nikolai Tatarnic (curator of entomology) at the WA museum. The meeting went great, and I had a fantastic chat to them both (all ’round great people!) about the bees in the area, my book and many other things, before being granted access to their collection and imaging equipment! Insect researchers are awesome. The only problem is that the only available time for me to go was the following Monday. Being Wednesday, that was probably longer than I could wait in Perth. And so a loop was devised, and with a recommendation of the Sterling ranges for bee collecting, I was off!

That day we headed south only a little while out of Perth, camping at the edge of a bush fire that had burned not that long before.

A burnt path

Burnt branches and leaves at the campsite

Those underground animals, however, are well prepared to survive fires and emerge safely!

Next day was a driving day through a wine and cheese-infested area of WA. So after a lunch on the beach and the purchasing of wine and cheese a campsite was decided upon in Gladstone National Park. To my surprise there was a free hut at this site, waiting for the first person to claim it! This was not me, but a lovely French/Australian family, who I spent my evening with, alongside several others at the campsite that night! It is a bloody fantastic site.

Beach herbs in flower… But only European honey bees and wasps coming for a visit.

The hut.

The creek below the hut (Actually a crossing for the road past the hut)

Anyway, next day would see us to the Stirling Ranges National Park! Of course because I cannot collect there, we could not stay. So just to the north at a ‘look out’ (Actually a slightly higher part of the otherwise flat landscape), camp was made and bees were found! The next morning was back to Perth, where I stayed to catch up on some focus stacking and to be ready for a day at the museum.

Part of the Stirling Ranges, from the road

Part of the Stirling Ranges from the ‘look out’

A wasp that I originally thought was a bee, from near the Stirling ranges

At the museum it took me a little while to get used to the museum’s set up, but once I did it was awesome and really a pleasure to use! I was thus warned by Nikolai that I could not have it… He was onto me! I didn’t get that many bees photographed during the day though, as I needed to take, stack and partly edit them while there (so that both the museum and I could use the photos… without making more work for them) so I only photographed 5 of their bees in 18 photos. However, I also got to take a few breaks with Terry to talk about bees, the museum and whatever else! I was further invited to come back and photograph further if I wanted, which was […is…] EXTREMELY tempting, but I have been in WA too long already I think, so tomorrow I will make a break for the border. But maybe I’ll have to come back some day in the not too distant future….

 

Ctenocolletes smaragdinus, one of the bees that I imaged at the WA museum (unedited)… Such a good macro set up!

Bee count: 103

Kilometres travelled: >12,800

January 25, 2016January 26, 2016 by jbdorey Categories: Uncategorized 2 Comments

Waterhole birds and desert bees

So I left off camping next to a dry creek bed with a bunch of cows; my first day in WA. From there I did quite a bit of driving towards Broome, and found very few bees in this arid place! I did pass Wolfe Creek, but didn’t stay for the night (despite some temptation).

The road to Wolfe Creek

The landscape has been pleasant enough, fifty shades of arid is how I’d describe it! Many different ways and places of getting thirsty and sunburnt 😉

Some of the more prominent features in this part of WA

Anyway, after a lot of driving, and not a great deal of bee finding, I did find an awesome free campsite next to a lagoon, which was teeming with bird life! Naturally, I had to whip out the old zoom lens and see what I could see.

Rainbow bee eater taking a break on a barbed wire fence in the afternoon

Not sure what this little bird is

After the bird activity died down, I was greeted with an awesome sunset and amazing early evening storm. …I think that I may need to dial back the lagoon talk here, but it’s safe to say that I would love to come back one day, if nothing else but for the birds.

Sunset over the lagoon

An explosion in the clouds!

Next day (after an extended morning around the lagoon…), I set off for Broome. Along the way I saw some more awesome bottle trees, which made the ones growing in gardens and parks along the east coast look like sickly little things. I also stopped to have a look at some unattended back burning in the bush next to the road and watched the birds of prey circling the fire waiting for some misguided little mammal to make a runner.

Some of the huge bottle trees

The back burning front

A cow’s skull just ahead of the fire… It tells a story, or at least an ending to one

I got to Broome, where I had a couple of packages waiting for me (or so I thought). I stayed a couple of nights and made a new friend and saw some sights to pass the time! I eventually received one package and moved on south towards Perth.

The Broome coast from the caravan park

Crab balls!

Sunset over a western beach! Now that’s something I don’t see too often!

And to the east a storm gathers in the light of the setting sun

Once I was off I could not help but try to find a campsite close to water in order to find some more birds to photograph. So, next to De Grey River (the dry end of the river at least) I found some shallows with bird activity! Not only did I find birds though… The constant ‘popping’ on the water surface come evening (and the next morning) made me cast in a line! Well I got to land my first ever mangrove jack (8 or 9 of them in fact!). I also saw a ~1 metre bull shark(?) swirling through the shallow reeds looking for a feed!

Red-kneed dotterel in the shallows

Another rainbow bee eater!

Zebra finches

Brown honeyeater about to take off

Black-fronted dotterel

And then… Budgies!!!

And all here because of the water

After another afternoon and morning taking photos of birds (not bees), I turned south again, driving to a mining town called Newman, which I camped near in another empty ‘campground’. Along the way though there was some pretty awesome scenery, some of which I could not help but climb (perhaps much to the confusion of passing motorists!). There’s not much else to say about that day, but that I stayed at a cool campsite a little off the road in some bush 😉

One of the ledges that I climbed that day

Atop a hill

Slightly out of focus, with butterfly net holstered in my belt

Not 2km down the road the landscape became flat and dry

The next morning I started out, again looking for bees along the side of the road. I wasn’t having too much luck until I stopped to look at some big orange and purple flowers. Well neither of those had bees on them either come to think of it… But they did lead me to see some much smaller flowers, getting serviced by at least two species of bees, one of which was another species of blue-banded!

A blue banded bee species coming in to land

A few more blue-bandeds coming in for a feed!

Of course, it’s never just bees that visit flowers, there were plenty of wasps as well, preferring often to come in sideways… probably not doing a great job of pollinating, but still…

After some excitement and sunburn from laying prone on the ground for a bit too long, I got back on the road and enjoyed the dry scenery. I particularly liked coming over a rise or just driving along and seeing a red pillar in the sky from dust devils on the ground, as well as the twisted trees in the cracked red soil.

The bottom of a dust devil.. not the best picture but they go up quite high

An inland ‘lake’

My next campsite was quite good as well actually. I was greeted by an apparently very judgmental brown falcon… Yet I was again impressed by the twisted dead-looking trees in the area!

Through my back window as I knew it would bolt when I opened my door… It did.

A twisted ‘tree’ (it’s only about 20cm tall)

Okay, this tree is a little bigger… at least a shrub!

They also look good in front of the milky way (unlike those damn clouds!)

Anyway, next morning involved a bit more bird watching, as they came for the little puddle of water that I had parked next to, followed by a drive to Geraltdon! The road was actually quite good, and featured goats, sheep, kangaroos, emus, goanas and god knows what else! So I had to be careful, while enjoying the ride 🙂

I don’t know, some little grey job…

That grey job didn’t like my lack of ability (or will) to ID it, so it left… Apparently an inland thornbill

Western bowerbird

Emus on the run!

Anyways, I finally made it to Geraltdon, and I also finally found some wildflowers! This was of course after passing through about 100km or more of “wildflower country”, but great! I was only able to catch one species though, although it was late in the afternoon. BUT that species was a species of cuckoo bee! 😀 Tonight, I camp by the beach, and the ocean is my shower!

Wildflowers next to the Geraltdon airport

Good morning, coastal frontage!

From WA with love,

James

 

Bee count: 79

Kilometers traveled: ~11,000

January 16, 2016January 18, 2016 by jbdorey Categories: Uncategorized 6 Comments

A pitstop for Ron and I

My night in Jabiru was quite nice! Even after being chased back into the confines of my van by mosquitos and the sound of a dingo pack nearby, I got to enjoy a clear night sky and some shooting stars!

A [poor] photo of the night sky as seen from my moonroof/airvent

The next morning, I managed to find ~5 different species near Jabiru, and another 2 on the way back to Darwin. In the more tropical parts of NT one bee species seemed to be much more common than the others! Wherever I found bees, I found this one… And in greater numbers than other species found at the same site.

The common white-faced bee

Some wildflowers being visited by bees and other insects

One of the other insects… Although I’m not sure that this stick insect was after the nectar…

Although I have seen evidence of stick insects having a go at some pollen! (not from this trip – male titan stick insect)

On a less stick-insect related note, I had to leave Jabiru and drive through Kakadu National Park again to return to Wagait Beach to meet with my uncle and cousin who were coming back from work that night.

After a nice drive and even better shower (they are few and far between sometimes) I met with my uncle (Phillip) and cousin (Peter). My cousin was taking me around the bush the following day, which was a reason for some excitement! With an outline of a game plan I went to sleep with some anticipation!

The following morning we got ready and left for the bush and beach (after some small repairs on Peter’s car).

Pete and his home-made 4×4, grins all ‘round!

Any thought of finding bees (which I did intend to do, I promise) were quickly dashed as I was too entranced by the awesome scenery and bounced about, grinning all the while in Peter’s car!

One of many amazing wetlands that has sprung up after the rains

Tracks of a[n estimated 4.5m] saltwater croc going up the beach

The next wetland was girt by magnetic termite mounds, many of which appeared to have been shot by some apparently very bored people… I’m sure the holes don’t mean a great deal to the colonies, but I can think of some better pastimes all the same 😉

I think that with this mound, they were going for Bart Simpson… The resemblance is uncanny!

While we were there, we also managed to find a geocache, albeit accidentally!

Suggestions? Photo courtesy of Peter

I cannot help but think that this tree is playing with fire, making its home in that of a wood-eating insect…

Wetlands are renowned homes for a plethora of animal life, particularly birds…

These three were particularly enjoying the 4×4 tracks, so much so that they chose to fly ahead of us for a few minutes before deciding that they were better off getting off of the road

They were also home to what I can only assume was the fin of a land-shark!

As the day got later, we headed back towards the beach, crossed a creek, saw a lighthouse and got settled in for a fish.

No, this isn’t taken from the creeks edge, but in its middle

The beach leading up to the hidden lighthouse

We settled in, as did the sun before beginning our fishing

I was successful in catching my first ever Barramundi (with Pete’s help and guidance). Pete however was more successful with his fish, being about twice the length of mine! Regardless, I still had a fantastic day and night!

Pete’s hook-up for the night

After quite a sleep in, I packed the van and got Pete and Phil’s help in fixing the front fan on the van so that I don’t cook anymore. Turns out the brushes on the motor weren’t so much worn out as they were gone… So being the resourceful people they are, they took brushes from another unrelated motor, cut them to shape and put them in mine! Hey presto I have a front air con again, which has been keeping me if not frosty at least cool for a couple of days now!

Upon leaving the morning after, it did not take long to find some signs of flood damage on the road to WA… I also found some signs of a changing landscape, from the flat plains and soft hills on tropical NT to a more arid, sharp cliff-ridden landscape. No bees though!

A sign of flood damage 😉

NT cliffs

After a sweaty night’s sleep I was ready to make the last leg of the journey towards WA. The road was often sided by quite a few very impressive bottle trees.

A tall bottle tree standing stalwart near the highway

Just before the border I started passing some very impressive cliffs that were topped by plateaus! Needless to say I had to climb one (albeit a smaller one). The view from the top was impressive as was the top itself, covered in yellow wildflowers and red stones! But no bee to visit any of those flowers, most likely due to the mid-day heat. I did manage to collect two individuals on the way down, and see a few more, including one that from a distance seemed like a teddy bear bee the size of a carpenter bee (of course this was from a distance…)!

The top of my plateau

My crossing of state borders was not greeted with a picture of Ron, a sign, and myself but rather a sign and a quarantine check! Goodbye sweet onions and potatoes… After that it did not take me long to find myself some WA wildflowers in the bush on the side of the road! I also found some more rocks to climb…

WA border and checkpoint

WA wildflowers

The view from a peak

The view of Ron from said peak

Having lost my 130 speed limits, I was limited to 110, which meant that now everyone else was going the same speed as me ;). This is probably for the best, as the road was often accompanied by wild horses, wild(?) cows and the bodies of kangaroos.

A family of wild horses, including a foal

Possibly wild cow

The states may change, but my camp rarely does

Bee count: 68

Kilometers traveled: 8222

Until next time,

 

James

January 9, 2016January 9, 2016 by jbdorey Categories: Uncategorized Leave a comment

A new year for the aquavan

Where we left off I was stuck in Elliott due to rising floodwaters…

The truck queue in Elliott

Yet this morning, we were let past Elliott towards Katherine.

Hard to see, but there is a bit of a line of road trains and cars along the highway

Passing over some shallow water along the way….

And some more…

A bit of road works as well… Not sure why we had to go 5-10km/hr, road train…

Until I got to this ½ meter of water flowing across the road!

I waited about 15km up the road chatting to the traffic control bloke who was very friendly. When his colleague came back from the where the floodwaters crossed and reported that some cars were getting through, the first bloke helped me find my air intake and recommended that I cover it with a sheet to keep the water out and follow a road train!

Nice and dry!

So I did as he suggested and approached the waters with some confidence… Confidence up until I was knee deep in flood waters…

Thankfully the road train and car in front made way for me, bringing the water level down a bit!

But Ron the photomobile… or maybe Ron the aqua-van now… Never missed a beat and I got through no troubles!

Only a little moist from the corssing

But I am across and the van still runs, much more than can be said about the harley and red station wagon!

The floodwaters did put on quite a display though! In particular I was amazed by this temporary lake, which provided some amazing views. Views made better in my opinion by the short-lived nature of this body (on google earth this area appears to be all dry).

Temporary lake

Twisted trees reflecting in the shallows

There’s something about termite mounds up to their ankles in water!

The floodwaters also stopped me from visiting some hot springs (Called Bitter Springs) that were recommended to me by my dad, but then you can’t win them all!

The name “Bitter Springs” takes on a whole new meaning here!

Tomorrow though I will stay in Darwin… In a backpackers of all things for new years eve! Get back into my natural habitat of the hostel… I probably already have about the right personal hygiene (backpackers are actually cleanly creatures by and large in my experience).

On my drive to Darwin I was only able to find four bees, which really suited me just fine, as I had a few things to do that day and not much time to spend taking photos! On my way to meet with my aunt and cousin at the Darwin airport, where they work, I found a shady spot in the suburbs to take the photos. Of course, as soon as I am all set up and taking photos an old lady walks out of her house in her bikini and starts washing her car. All good and well except that I am parked directly out front of her house sitting in the back of my van with the flash going off every few seconds! Thankfully no police arrived at the scene…

Anyway, after my photos were taken and family met, I set off to the backpackers where I met some great people to spend new years with in Darwin. Featuring live music and a fair bit of beer, it was quite a good way to greet 2016! The first day of 2016 was then spent recovering, playing a bit of chess and a lot of cards with some more great people!

The only problem is that my itchy feet are started kicking in and I really need to find some bees! As such, the next day was spent with my aunt, Lorna sussing out some likely places in Darwin, before driving 1.5 hours to her awesome house in Waigat Beach! Tomorrow though, I really have to find some bees!

1.5 hour drive or a 15 minute Ferry from Darwin!

It seems that the tropics isn’t so great for finding bees, I have only found 1 new species since getting to Darwin! However, I am now parked in Jabiru, a small town within Kakadu National Park and am hoping that come morning, the tiny wild flowers in the area may attract something for me to swoop a net at!

The town lake – great crocodile realty perhaps?

My campsite for tonight, just off the Kakadu highway

One of the [bigger] tiny flowers in the area that I am hoping will attract some bees (not more flies)!

Welcome to 2016 everyone! The next post may well be coming from WA, or at the least on the way to WA!

 

James

January 4, 2016January 15, 2016 by jbdorey Categories: Uncategorized 2 Comments