In 1947 the movie Bush Christmas was filmed in the Burragorang Valley and the nearby Blue Mountains of New South Wales. As the caption of the following photo mentions, the Valley was subsequently flooded to create Warragamba Dam. There is now a controversial plan to raise the
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Thomas Sutcliffe Mort was an Australian pastoralist, and a pioneer of preserving food for export by freezing. In September 1875 he organized a picnic lunch for 300 influential people (all men of course 😎) at Lithgow, where he had established a vast meat works and chilling complex.
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For birds, sight is the most critical of the senses for survival. Hence, their eyes are much larger in relation to the size of their heads (and brains) in comparison to other vertebrate, including we humans. A large pupil allows more light to enter. That’s why an
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So our resident Wongas are raising yet another set of twins. They were sitting on eggs all through the March ‘big wet’ here in the Blue Mountains. The chicks need constant care and it’s time for Mr Wonga to take over the afternoon shift. His partner has
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Who would have thought than an eggshell could provide such joy and excitement during one of the worst weather events in living memory? As readers of my bird blogs know, I have been photographing and writing about our resident Wonga pigeons for a number of years. Over
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Landscaping is on the agenda here in Blackheath. Our new house in the Blue Mountains has been built within an established garden, on a similar footprint to the old, now demolished cottage. Nevertheless, new entrance steps and an added vehicle awning have meant that some mature plants
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We have a strict policy against artificial bird feeding at our Blue Mountains property, well apart from providing fresh water. There is an abundance of nectar, seeds and insects to satisfy the countless species that visit us. Half of our large garden is planted with Australian natives,
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I have to confess that I am a bit obsessed with our native Wonga pigeons. They are so gentle and engaging. They wander around the garden paths in my Blue Mountains garden every day, just as I do myself. Our long term, resident pair nest high in
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In 2020, admittedly a weird year for the entire world, our resident Wonga couple completely defied nature. Instead of breeding just once in spring, they churned out chicks almost continually. We live at Blackheath in the NSW Blue Mountains, so this meant they were nesting through heat,
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