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Beechmont Nature Journal, February 2021
He waits on the bright green grass, alone. As I approach, he walks quickly away (wood ducks don’t waddle). Dark head held high, a cautious eye looking back, watching my every step. I walk by, and he settles back down on the grass, waiting. Wood ducks are grass-eaters,...
How do you describe a forest? (or woodland, shrubland, grassland…)
Forests are hard to describe. So much complexity, so much thriving life. Colours, light and forms change with the seasons, and over time. How to fit all that into words or pictures? The ways to describe a forest are infinite, and each approach will also be influenced...
A daily drawing challenge
About 2 weeks ago I embarked on a daily drawing challenge. That is, to draw something from nature every day. Why nature? Because spending time in nature makes me happy! Why drawing? Because it makes me slow down, and discover wonders by observing closely. Why a daily...
An early morning adventure, featuring a very good boy
One of the lovely things about living in Beechmont is that we never really know what we're going to find on our early morning dog walk...
Transitions
Recently, a friend told me that she was going to transition. From being a she to becoming a he. It’s something she’d wanted since puberty. I could hear the relief in her voice, and a happy anticipation of a new, precious and exciting life ahead. But many people find...
‘It’s made me see nature in a different way then what i did before.’
Panel from the opening cartoon of 'Take this Book for a Walk' Ever had one of those days when you feel like you're swimming through mud, and getting nowhere? Or maybe feeling bewildered at all the strange things happening in the world, and exhausted by it all? This is...
Free grassy woodland colouring-in sheet
Bimblebox Nature Refuge protects a large tract of grassy woodland that provides habitat for many native animal species. Bimblebox, ironbarks, rusty jackets, brigalow and many other tree and shrub species provide food, shelter and breeding sites. This colour-in is free...
Free canopy birds colour-in sheet
Many gorgeous birds make their home in the Bimblebox Nature Refuge. The extensive woodlands of bimblebox, ironbarks, rusty jackets and many other tree and shrub species provide food, shelter and nesting sites. This colour-in is free for you to download, print and...
Free squirrel glider colour-in sheet
Squirrel gliders roam the Bimblebox Nature Refuge in central Queensland, eating nectar, gum, insects and more. The squirrel glider in this colour-in is filled with the many sweet flowers it sups on during the tranquil woodland nights. This colour-in is free for you to...
Reflecting on place
How much do you know about the place where you live? No doubt you know where to buy food and other essentials. Perhaps you know where to catch the bus / tram / train, or the quickest way to drive to work or school. But what about the landform you live on? In this week of reconciliation, how much do you know about the humans who first lived in this place? And what about the plants and animals who share your place? Are they recent arrivals, or are they the modern descendants of very ancient lineages? Use this activity to reflect on your place.
How a call from Dubbo shook me out of my corona-daze
We're all a bit tired after packing and sending all of those books! So how are you going in this strange time of COVID-19? Feeling overwhelmed, or embracing a slow-down? Missing friends and family, but perhaps also discovering new ways to connect? Out of work and...
Beechmont Nature Journal Autumn 2020
A family of yellow-tailed black-cockatoos have been a steady presence over the last few weeks. Mum, dad and a baby, it seems. The baby is often whining - in its loud, creaky way - for something. Is it food, is it just attention, who knows? We see them sailing...
Tales of Science
Christmas curlew update
Earlier in the year, I brought you the story of Rowena and Herbie, the courting stone-curlews from Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary near Canberra. Their budding romance was mentioned in 'Rewilding Weeloo, the enigmatic bush stone-curlew'. Well, as a special Christmas...
The wisdom of pelicans
I was sitting on a nearly-deserted Bribie Island beach last week, with only sand, sea, and bushland all around. An osprey was hunting nearby, and a few terns drifted past. The tide was up, and we’d just been for a dip - but only as far as a shallow sand spit, only...
The kingfishers that don’t fish
Every summer, in our street, there was a loud insistent “pip-pip-pip” that rang out, at intervals, nearly all day. The Sacred Kingfishers were nesting in a large old tree near the corner. The tree is gone now, and I need to walk further to be within earshot of the...
Rewilding Weeloo, the enigmatic bush stone-curlew
Cold wind buffets my breath as the small boat bounces along the waves. We are heading towards a tiny, sun-bleached rocky nub of an island, one of the many that cluster about the sprawling, inverted triangle of Eyre Peninsula, like small fish shadowing a large,...
A frog’s tale
This is Fleay's barred frog, one of several species of large frog in the genus Mixophyes that occur in or near streams associated with Australian wet forests. Now when you look at a frog, you might think that it's a short-lived, rather ephemeral creature....
Dialogue with a logrunner
Me: Hello little logrunner, how are things with you? Logrunner: (scratch, scratch)…oh…you talking to me? Me: Yes, I’d like to know what it’s like to be a logrunner. Logrunner: (cocks her head, looks at me with a big dark eye) Not sure if I’ve really thought about it....
Nature journaling
Beechmont Nature Journal Autumn 2020
A family of yellow-tailed black-cockatoos have been a steady presence over the last few weeks. Mum, dad and a baby, it seems. The baby is often whining - in its loud, creaky way - for something. Is it food, is it just attention, who knows? We see them sailing...
Inspiration from chooks
Chooks are irrepressible, despite the uncertainty of their lives. They give me inspiration. Here's a nature journal spread of our backyard flock that I completed last night. In case you're interested in doing some nature journaling yourself, here are the steps I used...
Finding joy and calm
The earth seems to be shifting under our feet. Nothing seems certain, and it's easy to let our anxieties and fears grow. That is, if we focus on human affairs only. Because out there, in nature, the world is going on. Lives are born and lives end. Trees that are...
Rain returns to Beechmont – woohoo!
Rain has emphatically returned to Beechmont in the last few days. Overnight we received 167 mm! I don't like to complain about the lack of rain here, since we still tend to receive far more rain than many drought-ravaged places in Australia. But I guess it's all...
Beechmont Nature Journal 24th December 2019
The Queensland Lacebark Tree Brachychiton discolor Along a path strewn with brown fire-killed leaves; dried, drought-killed leaves, and scattered with charcoal and ash – I find this: Opulent pink flowers, freshly tumbled, two hundred or more. While above me springs...
Reasons to be cheerful
I’m finding it a bit hard to be cheerful these days. Heat, smoke, prolonged drought and more fires. Frustration at the lack of action on climate change, while its effects are becoming more and more obvious. My beloved Lamington National Park is still closed, so I can’t go and lose myself in its leafy depths. But life continues, in all its beauty. When I take the time to look about, and look closely, I find many reasons to be cheerful.
Forest portraits
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Cartoons
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Wildlife illustration
Competition winners, and nature journaling in the rainforest
Thank you to everyone who entered the ‘name the species on the ESA 2018 bag design’ competition. Many high-quality entries were received, and I was most impressed with the species ID skills of the entrants. Special mentions go to: Eve Hayden and Gregg Muller for...
Recent drawings and a new cartoon
When I started drawing I was fascinated by line more than anything else. In the last few weeks I've been reminding myself of the importance of tone - lights and darks, and how the contrast of these can bring drama to a picture. I took some photos of the gorgeous wet...
If life sends you lemons, butterflies may follow
We've always had a lemon tree, in every place that we've lived. "The most useful fruit tree you can have," says Ray. But the other great thing about cultivating lemons is that a beautiful butterfly tends to follow. Caterpillars of the Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly...
Winter wanderings
Winter field trips can be cold but exhilarating. This winter I had the good fortune to travel down to northern Victoria and southern New South Wales, to reacquaint myself with those landscapes under grey subdued skies. The trip was half work and half pleasure,...
The Rainforest Birds of Gondwana
Here are the rainforest birds of Gondwana – starting with the top of the tree canopy, and ending with the forest floor: The call of the Pied Currawong echoes through the forest, loud musical wails and ringing notes, from way up on high. A swish of black-and-white...
Free Riverina Grasslands colouring book to download
Two summers ago I set off to the Hay Plain in southern New South Wales to explore and draw the remarkable Plains-Wanderer and its grassland habitat. Ray and I stayed in the old homestead at Oolambeyan National Park while I did the preliminary work for the Riverina...