Bogong clouds over Manly heath

Where there is still coastal bush and heath left in Manly today there were huge clouds of bogong moths (Agrotis infusa). Flying at dusk in high winds in a very directed way, tanking up especially on the flowers of the coastal tea-tree (Leptospermum laevigatum). Their migration path of some 1000 km each year has been going on forever. Before they contained arsenic they made good tucker.

Swooping birds & butterflies

Some handy advice what you can do to avoid swooping birds and how to encourage butterflies in your environment.

Protecting property without dying from it

White ants and other insects were bombarded with pesticides (chlorinated hydrocarbons, e.g.Dieldrin) well into the 70s in Australia. Rarely a house, wood or soil was not doused in this deadly stuff. The nerve poison, chrome arsenate used to impregnate housing timber at present, ' has recently been banned from use on children's playground equipment'. The discovery of a native plant of the (over-exploited) sandelwood family is found to have natural repellent properties against unwanted bugs. But first it has to be bottled & commercialised to protect property from insects, unless everyone were to grow a beautiful sandelwood forest around their infrastructure. Lets hope they haven't cleared it all yet.

'Why do people like the sound of cars more than koels?'

The Koels (Eudynamys scolopacea) are back in their breeding place. After the long journey from New Guinea, the strong "coo-ee" or "ko-el" can be heard at night especially. Up to 46 cm they are a stately and beautiful bird. They will put their eggs into the nest of the local birds. (Red Wattlebird, Figbirds etc).
The depicted image is on exhibition at the Manly Library at the moment. Wonderful to see, that kids are raised with an awaress of their local habitat. Still switched on to ask questions like: "Why do people like the sound of cars more than koels? " Meanwhile adults complain about the sounds of frogs and birds, but not traffic, 'air-conditioners', building noises etc etc
I did not get the name of the budding artist, but promise I'll look it up next time....
Update: The name of the artist of the above picture is: Helena Todd. She is 10 years old. Also forgot to mention that there are many more nice pictures in the 'Art and Nature' Competition.

Cocktails & Food trends

Cocktails today in cudabar, stylish lounge, cool music. Bit tucked away, but a nice atmosphere, ocean views and long lasting drinks. An unusual cosmopolitan bar for Manly. The other part is barracuda, a seafood restaurant, smells ok, will test it soon.

Liked these remarks on restaurant trends. Guess they are true for Sydney too.(Via Kottke)
(Update: 23.12.05, yeah, cudabar is still cool, but the food is not for slow food fans.)

Use of country

Other Australian news:

• Make Australia a nuclear waste dump (Bob Hawke).
• Green tape 'overprotects' Australian plants and reduces profit margins in extractive industries. Deregulate!
• Not just private individuals 'harvest' the NATIONAL parks, but governments too logged the forest in the Errinundra National Park, Vict. No one to fine?
  
• Bottlenose dolphin (Flipper) stabbed to death, 7 times, in the heart too. (Geelong, Melbourne)
• Feed the penguins to the dogs! People's decisions in south-western Victoria.

Ibis eradication pill

The ibis, once object of veneration and hurricane indicator is found in most place in Australia. At the Gold Coast, Qld. it is now interfering with tourist revenue and calls to cull or 'round-up & relocate' are growing. Deprived of the huge wetlands it once inhabited it takes to the garbage (dumps) that the present human population leaves in places of 'civilisation'. But science will now provide the magic bullet: 'the pill' to eradicate this population.

via ABC News Online

4WD user profile

"A typical 'city' four-wheel drive owner" is:

• in their 40s to 50s
• obese
• conservative, intolerant
  
• homophobic
• in full employment, well remunerated
• not keen on Indigenous culture
• allergic to public & good causes
• has a low regard for disadvantaged people

they view themselves:

• as rugged individualists 'lovin a bit of sport'
• 'it's ok to use force to get my way' (also on & off road)
• proud 'Mr. Fixit'
• ok to be digitally illiterate

via ABC news online

Sydney without bandicoots

Watching the usual extinction, but this time the well documented, researched, career paths forged on it. But the losers are non-homo sapiens (at first). The creature of the moment is the BANDICOOT. While listed on the threatened species list for a while now, it is still mauled by dogs & cats, run over by cars and now the final bullet: 112 housing developments on its habitat. In THE BANDICOOT VS. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH the matter can be followed (from Canada!) in detail. At first (1788) there were many species of bandicoots everywhere. Now the Long-nosed Bandicoot,(Perameles nasuta) population at Nord Head is the LAST one in the Sydney region.
The 'country' of St Patrick's Estate was 'gifted' to the catholic church, official history with them only starts in 1935. Today the grounds are abuzz with building sites, the roads full of mining gear. The noise can be heard all over Manly. Here we go: the bush was/is cleared, cemented and very dear housing plastered all over the headland.This is the end of Bandicoots' habitat. The survivors, pushed to the edges are probably mangled by dogs&cats of the neighbouring McMansions.

What will you tell your kids, how the last bandi disappeard from Manly/Sydney?
No shortage of data, signs, pamphlets, speeches, workshops etc
If the real estate is fine, who gives a 'hoot'
Bandi in previous post

Bad cups in Manly

Tried out Bay Coffee Roasters today. A sickly sweet milky cappuccino and I was wondering about the 'coffee' content. The foam was moving by the deregulated engines jobbing along Darley Road & Wentworth Street. How can people sit on this street and drink stuff like that?

Bicycle paths in Manly.

I have reported before that Manly is more bicycle-friendly than many other places in Sydney. Here are some of the best routes I know:

• Along the beach front from Shelley Beach to Queenscliff is car-free cycle territory. Some mums mistake the bike path for a pram path but it is car-free. The Norfolk pines shade the path nicely.
• At the Queenscliff end continue under the road into Lagoon Park. This path is shared with pedestrians. The lagoon has been well planted with appropriate native plants for the remnant waterway.
• A dedicated bike path follows Kenneth Road alongside a golf course which has beautiful trees, including riberries, but horrendous machines cutting grass most of the time. This leads to Balgowlah and Seaforth where there are some bike paths too.
• Pine Street in Manly, near North Steyne SLSC, now has a marked cycle path on the road, i.e. shared with cars. It leads from the beach into a traffic-quietened part of Manly where cycling is pretty safe. I use Pacific Parade and Smith Street quite a lot. The 'official' marked bike path goes down Collingwood Street but the corrugations make it uncomfortable. Pacific Parade leads into Balgowlah Road which has a 40km speed limit (not much enforced I think) and a little-used footpath where a bike rarely meets a pedestrian.
• If you like hills, the hillside between Balgowlah Road and the Fairlight shops is now officially bicycle-friendly in some places with traffic quietening, and bikes have right of way in Crescent St and possibly elsewhere. Daintrey St and Francis St, Arthur St and Herbert St now have traffic quietening obstacles making the whole area safely usable for bikes (but hilly).

More on Bike paths in Manly

Bits

Repelling sharks with the right wetsuit.
Cars 'sensing' pedestrians and avoiding running into these soft bodies.
From running live stock with extreme low maintenance to remote 'husbandry' (electronic flock management) from the CBD.
And here 'the smoker' of the day image.