The 2013 Xmas Letter of Brett and Karen
Merry Xmas from Brett and Karen!
In a lot of ways, 2013 for Karen and me was a milestone year in our lives. Karen's retirement was moved from January to February, and then postponed again until March, then April, and it eventually did not happen until sometime in May. And I turned 60 in August, applied for my Senior's Card in September and used it to get my first free cup of coffee at McDonald's in mid December - monumental!
The other major happening of the year was a three month bird-watching trip to the north of Australia in September, October and November, but prior to that we enjoyed our usual activities - with the main highlights being a few bushwalking trips and one big kayaking expedition.
Our Big Trip Up North
Early in the year we arranged to join some friends for a couple of weeks of birdwatching in northern Queensland in November. Then an opportunity came up to participate in a bird survey on an Australian Wildlife Conservancy property called Mornington (in the Kimberleys in WA) in September. We decided to join the two trips together, and were eventually gone for three months, covering almost 20,000 kilometres, including the Oodnadatta Track, the Tanami Track, half of the Gibb River Road and as far north on Cape York as the Iron Ranges and Portland Roads.
Along the way we visited the Wolfe Creek Crater, many Kimberley gorges, Derby, Broome, Cape Leveque, El Questro, Darwin, Karumba, Cairns, Cooktown and Daintree. The scenery was spectacular, the birds were fantastic, our X-Trail performed almost faultlessly (one flat tyre and one flat battery) and the weather was excellent - once we got used to daytime temperatures over 40 degrees, and nights around 25 degrees (and hotter).
Kayaking
The kayaking trip on the Murray River from Yarrawonga to Echuca which had been called off due to floods in 2012 was re-scheduled for March of this year - 2013. We joined twelve others for the 270km paddle down the river. We were totally self-contained, and enjoyed fantastic weather, with daily temperatures so hot we spent almost as much time IN the water as ON the water!
A highlight of the trip was an echidna swimming across the Murray River - click here for the video.
(Click the thumbnails below to view larger images and hover cursor over thumbnail for description)
Bushwalking
Karen continued her stint as President of the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers this year. Apart from the usual weekend and mid-week bushwalks, we went away to the Snowy Mountains in February, the Blue Mountains in March and July, Green Gully (part of the Oxley-Wild Rivers National Park near Armidale) in April, and the northern beaches in Sydney for the Palm Beach to Manly walk. Karen and I also represented the club in the Nav Shield Rogaine in July, finishing a surprising 4th out of 53 teams in the one day event.
On the Green Gully Track we saw a Spotted-tailed Quoll - click here for the video.
(Click the thumbnails below to view larger images and hover cursor over thumbnail for description)
Photography
I maintained my Vice-Presidency of the Bay and Basin Camera Club, but the standard of my photography slipped a little this year - perhaps because I was absent so often on other adventures. I still managed to take a few good photos during the year - see below.
(Click the thumbnails below to view larger images and hover cursor over thumbnail for description)
Shorebirds
We are still keen birdwatchers and volunteers in the local area for the Shorebird 2020 recovery program. This year was another bad year for endangered Pied Oystercatchers and Hooded Plovers along Bherwerre Beach in Booderee National Park and on the islands in St Georges Basin. We have been monitoring nests and numbers for a few years now, and now that we know a bit more about the birds in the area we will hopefully move up to providing a more successful breeding environment for them.
Birds
Unlike last year, we saw heaps of new birds during the year, almost totally due to the time we spent in the central deserts and the northern tropics. In all we added over 30 species to our life lists, bringing our totals up to about 580 - well within sight of the magical 600 mark (which is on Karen's bucket list). Highlights included Inland Dotterel, Gibberbird, Golden Bowerbird, Golden-shouldered Parrot, Red Goshawk, Black-winged Monarch, Great-billed Heron, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Toothbilled Bowerbird, Fernwren, and Red-necked Crake - some of which are shown below.
A highlight late in the year was a Buff-banded Rail which has taken up residence in our backyard!
Birdlife Shoalhaven
This year Karen and I decided that we should do something additional for the conservation of birds in our local area, so we looked into setting up a Birdlife Australia branch in the Shoalhaven. Not wanting to tread on any toes, we talked to the two local birdwatching groups that we knew about, and both had no objections. Early in December we received the news that Birdlife Shoalhaven has been accepted as a branch of Birdlife Australia. We are still waiting on information about how we should set up the organisation. Hopefully we will get it up and running properly in 2014, providing a voice for the birds in the Shoalhaven, and a contact point for any locals interested in birdwatching and bird conservation. Stay tuned!
Other Stuff
In last year's Xmas Letter I mentioned my intention to get a smartphone and jump into the world of apps and stuff like that. Karen and I both embraced the technology this year, getting rid of our home phone and ADSL internet, and going fully mobile for all of our telephony and internet. Who would have thought?
We wish everyone a merry Xmas and a great 2014 ...
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, 2011 and 2012.