The 2012 Xmas Letter of Brett and Karen

Merry Xmas from Brett and Karen,

Uganda
Our big trip this year was to Uganda for three weeks of birdwatching and wildlife watching with a group of Australians, mostly birders like us. Good people, good organisation, great guides, great variety of birds and animals, and a memorable trip. All up we saw about 350 species of birds that we had never seen before. If I had to single out one highlight, it would be the time spent in close proximity to a group of mountain gorillas. More photos than the ones shown below can be seen by clicking on this link.

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Sydney to Dubai to Addis Ababa to Entebbe We saw hundreds of hippos in the Nile We saw lots of elephants too One of the many species of bee-eaters
We saw a few giraffes A male chimp posed for us in the Kibale Forest The smile of the Nile crocodile A Fish Eagle in flight
Zebras at Mburo National Park Ugandan Kob Saddle-billed Stork Murchison Falls on the Nile
Fish Eagle perched Karen on the Equator Pied Kingfisher Water Buffalo with Oxpeckers aboard
Baboons on the road in front of our bus Karen standing near a group of gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Mountain Gorilla

Kayaking
Our annual kayaking trip this year was intended to be on the Murray River from Yarrawonga to Echuca. Unfortunately it was called off due to floods, but we plan to try again in March 2013. However, we did do one notable kayak trip this year - a 23km paddle from Summercloud Bay (where 21 years ago Karen and I were married) around the Booderee Peninsula and into Jervis Bay, finishing at Iluka. Kayaking on the open ocean is always interesting.

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Our route Prior to launch The Booderee Sea Cliffs

Bushwalking
Karen and I have continued our involvement with the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers. Karen is now the President of the club, as well as being the Weekend Walks Coordinator. I am still the webmaster, publicity officer and archivist. Together we have led about 250 walks for the club in the past thirteen years or so. We walk most Wednesdays with occasional weekend activities and trips away. The major trips away this year were to Mystery Bay near Narooma, Namadji National Park in the ACT and to the Snowy Mountains where we stayed in a ski-lodge for a week of walking. As you can see, Karen is still interested in trig stations.

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The Snowgums Ski Lodge
Walking towards Mt Kosziuszko Mt Blue Cow Trig
Guthega Trig Mt Tate Trig Brett at Mt Twynam Trig
Overlooking the Shoalhaven River Valley Brokers Nose Trig above Wollongong Brett and Karen in Vinnies gear at Xmas Party (Karen wearing a wig) Karen next to Wineglass Tor
View from Hyland's Lookout

Flinders Ranges
In June Karen and I spent three weeks of sightseeing, birdwatching and photography in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia.

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Karen in the Flinders Ranges Trig near Leigh Creek Flinders Ranges road scene
Arkaroola
View from Red Hill

Shorebirds
We are still keen birdwatchers and volunteers in the local area for the Shorebird 2020 recovery program. This year was a bad year for endangered Pied Oystercatchers and Hooded Plovers along Bherwerre Beach in Booderee National Park and on the islands in St Georges Basin. Humans, dogs, ravens, seagulls, foxes, high tides and big swells saw many nests destroyed. We had no successful Hoodie nests in our area, and only two Pied Oystercatcher chicks reached adulthood.

Birds
We did not see very many new birds during the year, although we did pick up the Striated Grasswren while we were in the Flinders Ranges. The long walks along Bherwerre Beach monitoring shorebirds paid off for me with two new birds - a Sanderling, and an Australian Painted Snipe. The latter was totally unexpected, as it is a bird that skulks around inland swamps and is semi-nocturnal. I saw it in the middle of a coastal beach in the middle of the day!

Birdlife Australia Congress and Campout
Karen spent a week in Coffs Harbour in September at the BA Congress and Campout. There were talks about birds by various authorities over a couple of days, followed by birdwatching expeditions to various habitats in the local area. I was unable to attend due to the AFL finals - I don't go anywhere in September. Birds were almost certain to figure in the Grand Final as five of the final eight teams were birds - Hawks, Crows, Magpies, Eagles and the mighty, mighty Swans!

Camera Club
I continued my involvement with the Bay and Basin Camera Club, still as Vice-President and webmaster. In October our club ran a weekend workshop for 35 members of the public - on "An Introduction to Digital Photography". I gave three presentations, one on organising photos on your computer, another on the "Exposure Triangle - Getting off Auto", and a third on photographic software (Picasa). A few of my favourite photos from the past twelve months are shown below - all done with a lot of post processing on computer.

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For set subject of Spheres For set subject of Jervis Bay Alive For set subject of Weather Beaten Self Portrait

You can view a whole lot more of our images at our Picasa Web Albums site, my Camera Club site and the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers Images site - most of the albums shown on the latter are mine.

Other Stuff
Karen and I are still doing the occasional bike ride (Karen usually twice a week, me only once). Karen has also become more involved with bush dancing and the Kangaroo Valley Folk Club. She attended the KVFC's folk festival in October, spending time each day volunteering on ticket sales. She is now a committee member of the Folk Club. I am still playing golf once a week (or less when Karen makes me go places), with my handicap meandering around in the 9 to 12 range - I got down to a single figure handicap last May for the second time in my life. Karen does not play golf. I do not dance ...

Karen will retire at the end of January 2013 so next year we will be traveling more. Apart from the Murray River paddle in March, we plan to spend a week in Snowy Mountains in February, a week in the Blue Mountains in March, and a month or two traveling up to Cape York to do some birding in November - hoping to see the Summer migrants that fly down from New Guinea at that time of year. We are still deciding what to do in the colder months - somewhere warm would be nice ...

I have also retired from website design - doing no new websites but still maintaining my old sites. I am seriously thinking about buying a smart phone and getting into apps and all that stuff, but I am a bit of a Luddite when it comes to new technology ...

We wish everyone a happy Xmas and a wonderful 2013 ...

Cheers,
Brett and Karen Davis

P.S. As usual, our previous Xmas letters can be viewed by clicking the following links - 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.