IKuzmin Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 3 hours ago, gvallee said: And now the birdies of Christmas Island. Juvenile Christmas Island Frigatebird (Fregata andrewsi) drinking on the wing Female Christmas Island Frigatebird (Fregata andrewsi) drinking on the wing Female Great Frigatebird (Fregata minor listeri) harassing a Red-footed Booby (Sula sula rubripes) White-tailed Tropicbird or Golden Bosun (Phaethon lepturus fulvus) A pair of White-tailed Tropicbirds or Golden Bosuns (Phaethon lepturus fulvus) flying over the Indian Ocean White-tailed Tropicbird or Golden Bosun (Phaethon lepturus fulvus) Christmas Island White-eye (Zosterops natalis) feeding from a pink hibiscus flower Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster plotus) Red-footed Booby (Sula sula rubripes) Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster plotus) Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster plotus) Awesome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Yes, I make perfect scrambled eggs . . . but I'm usually modest about it. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 (edited) I deleted the Santa Dash. Edited December 5, 2023 by Ed Rooney 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Standfast Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said: Yes, I make perfect scrambled eggs . . . but I'm usually modest about it. You do make perfect scrambled eggs. I'd be tempted to add some brown sauce?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Standfast Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 On 02/12/2023 at 08:28, gvallee said: OK, crabs. Or to be more precise, the world famous Red Crabs migration on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, Australia. The migration starts with the first rainfall of the wet season, usually in October or November when 60 million crabs leave their forest homes and migrate to the shoreline to mate and spawn. The exact timing and speed of the migration is determined by the phase of the moon. Red crabs always spawn before dawn on a receding high-tide during the last quarter of the moon. Incredibly, they know exactly when to leave their burrows to make this lunar date. During our visit, after two good downpours, the rain stopped and the migration petered out. We didn’t mind as we still saw a good number of crabs on the move, and not all the roads were closed which allowed us to get to other points of interest, including stunning lookouts to photograph birds from a high viewpoint. Also of great interest to us were the coconut/robber crabs, the world's biggest land crustaceans. They can weigh more than 4 kg and measure up to a metre across. Then there were the Blue Crabs, swarming along freshwater streams in the rainforest. All in all, a real feast for the eyes. And now onto birds… Red Crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis) Red Crab (Gecarcoidea natalis) Christmas Island Blue Crab (Tuerkayana hirtipes) Christmas Island Blue Crab (Tuerkayana hirtipes) eating Red Crab (Gecarcoidea natalis) Coconut or Robber Crab (Birgus latro) Coconut or Robber Crab (Birgus latro) Coconut or Robber Crab (Birgus latro) Coconut or Robber Crab (Birgus latro) Just fantastic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 (edited) Red crabs! My goodness -- the only wildlife in Liverpool is the European Herring Gull, and they can't sing. Edited December 5, 2023 by Ed Rooney 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 A few more. Tin of Tesco Pineapple Chunks in Juice. Tin of Heinz Mulligatawny Soup. BRASSO GB's No. 1* Allan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Mr. S, you crafty hedgehog. Brown sauce is so British. I often eat British but I don't cook British. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted December 6, 2023 Author Share Posted December 6, 2023 After the wildlife, now the scenery and social life of Christmas Island, Australia. As usual, I'm camped in the boonies with partial obstruction of my Starlink dish, so it took me 3 attempts to upload this batch and it was stopped in QC. But hey! I'm stubborn. Background information: Christmas Island's total population was 1,692 in January 2023 The ethnic population of CI is many ethnic Chinese, a small number of European ancestry, and Malay labourers recruited mainly from Malaysia, Singapore, and the Cocos (Keeling) Edo, are you joining me? Side note: it was for two... I don't like gaps in between my drinks... Car number plate. How lovely is that? 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally Robertson Posted December 6, 2023 Share Posted December 6, 2023 2 hours ago, gvallee said: After the wildlife, now the scenery and social life of Christmas Island, Australia. As usual, I'm camped in the boonies with partial obstruction of my Starlink dish, so it took me 3 attempts to upload this batch and it was stopped in QC. But hey! I'm stubborn. Background information: Christmas Island's total population was 1,692 in January 2023 The ethnic population of CI is many ethnic Chinese, a small number of European ancestry, and Malay labourers recruited mainly from Malaysia, Singapore, and the Cocos (Keeling) Edo, are you joining me? Side note: it was for two... I don't like gaps in between my drinks... Car number plate. How lovely is that? Loved the bird images Gen and love these ones too of Christmas Island life and surrounds. It looks so relaxing! My Dad worked at Cocos Islands in the 1960s. I really want to get to both Cocos and Christmas Island one day. They are such remote locations out in the middle of the ocean. I imagine it must feel like a world unto itself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally Robertson Posted December 6, 2023 Share Posted December 6, 2023 On 05/12/2023 at 16:32, Ed Rooney said: Yes, I make perfect scrambled eggs . . . but I'm usually modest about it. That meal looks delicious Ed. Your photos keep making me hungry! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted December 6, 2023 Author Share Posted December 6, 2023 Just now, Sally Robertson said: Loved the bird images Gen and love these ones too of Christmas Island life and surrounds. It looks so relaxing! My Dad worked at Cocos Islands in the 1960s. I really want to get to both Cocos and Christmas Island one day. They are such remote locations out in the middle of the ocean. I imagine it must feel like a world unto itself. The Cocos Islands are only 5m above sea level. It is estimated that they'll disappear by 2050. I'll be uploading a few shots in the future, mostly from the plane as we didn't stay there. CI is certainly a very relaxed way of living. Not a single traffic light and only two stop signs I believe. Cocktails on Saturday night at a lovely colonial house or any day at the local tavern watching the sunset. Snorkelling straight from the beach onto the coral reef with amazing fish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally Robertson Posted December 6, 2023 Share Posted December 6, 2023 1 minute ago, gvallee said: The Cocos Islands are only 5m above sea level. It is estimated that they'll disappear by 2050. I'll be uploading a few shots in the future, mostly from the plane as we didn't stay there. CI is certainly a very relaxed way of living. Not a single traffic light and only two stop signs I believe. Cocktails on Saturday night at a lovely colonial house or any day at the local tavern watching the sunset. Snorkelling straight from the beach onto the coral reef with amazing fish. Yes, I've read about how the Cocos Islands are going under. My Dad took black and white images there in the 60s. I'm thinking those photos will become particularly historically meaningful. I'm hoping to get back into snorkelling which I did a lot as a kid and young adult. Would love to get underwater housing for my camera but it's so expensive! CI is definitely on my to do list! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 Christmas Island, Australia Are you sick of it yet? More to come... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Standfast Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 6 hours ago, gvallee said: Christmas Island, Australia Are you sick of it yet? More to come... Keep them coming...December is taking its job very seriously in th uk. 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 40 minutes ago, Mr Standfast said: Keep them coming...December is taking its job very seriously in th uk. 😉 And summer is doing its best in Oz: up to 47C in the Red Centre... There's still a wide margin for the record, being at 50.7C. Want a few degrees from us? ☀️ 🍠 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve F Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Had some fun making (and eating!) sushi and sashimi at home. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted December 8, 2023 Author Share Posted December 8, 2023 Cocos Islands (Keeling), Indian Ocean, Australia We did land on that airstrip Along the coast of Western Australia Details of the tail of a Boeing 737-8U3(WL) from Batik Malaysia airline Side View of a Virgin Australia Airbus A320 airliner on the apron at Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted December 10, 2023 Author Share Posted December 10, 2023 (edited) More from Christmas Island I bet you they leave this Xmas display all year long at Christmas Island airport Juvenile Red-footed Booby being fed a pilchard at Seabird Rehabilitation Facility A critically endangered Christmas Island Blue-tailed Skink (Cryptoblepharus egeriae), endemic to Christmas Island. This individual is part of a breeding and release program. The population went from a few hundreds to 2,000. They were released in the wild and monitored. Then rangers noticed that the population crashed again to the previous level. A shoulder to shoulder search was made in the dense forest to determine the cause. A big fat snake was discovered, satiated with 2,000 skinks. Back to square one for the program. Thought was given to release them in the wild in neighbouring Cocos Islands, but being only 5m above sea level, these islands are deemed to disappear by 2050. Kudos for rangers and their dogged determination to save those skinks from extinction. An exclusion zone, electrical or netted, is not feasible due to their tiny size. Edited December 10, 2023 by gvallee 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 Oh boy, Gen -- that's serious travellin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted December 10, 2023 Author Share Posted December 10, 2023 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said: Oh boy, Gen -- that's serious travellin' Hold my beer. Planning next year foreign trips.... If they eventuate, it will be a big wow. In Christmas Island, before driving around, you have to go to the police station and pick up a personal locator beacon. There is no reception if you break down or need help. Some 4x4 car rentals are a joke with perfectly smooth tyres, a seat belt if you're lucky and broken wheel changing equipment. Luckily ours was very good, there are some 18% climbs in the forest. Edited December 10, 2023 by gvallee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Standfast Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 On 05/12/2023 at 15:35, Ed Rooney said: Mr. S, you crafty hedgehog. Brown sauce is so British. I often eat British but I don't cook British. 🙂 Ah, well, about that. Brown sauce or HP sauce or Houses of Parliament Sauce, with its iconic London landmark on the bottle? Made in Holland since 2007. Still good though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally Robertson Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, gvallee said: More from Christmas Island I bet you they leave this Xmas display all year long at Christmas Island airport Juvenile Red-footed Booby being fed a pilchard at Seabird Rehabilitation Facility A critically endangered Christmas Island Blue-tailed Skink (Cryptoblepharus egeriae), endemic to Christmas Island. This individual is part of a breeding and release program. The population went from a few hundreds to 2,000. They were released in the wild and monitored. Then rangers noticed that the population crashed again to the previous level. A shoulder to shoulder search was made in the dense forest to determine the cause. A big fat snake was discovered, satiated with 2,000 skinks. Back to square one for the program. Thought was given to release them in the wild in neighbouring Cocos Islands, but being only 5m above sea level, these islands are deemed to disappear by 2050. Kudos for rangers and their dogged determination to save those skinks from extinction. An exclusion zone, electrical or netted, is not feasible due to their tiny size. Wow, more great pics Gen! I wish my Dad was still around to show him the ones of Cocos. When he lived there he posted a coconut to his Dad by writing the address on it. He worked as a weather observer/technician, doing daily weather measurements, sending up weather balloons etc. He worked at numerous locations around WA (Onslow, Carnarvon, Halls Creek, Esperance etc) and loved the itinerant life of jobs that took him all over the place. I think I have a bit of that in me too so maybe I will end up like you one day, in a mobile van travelling Oz. The dry river bed is fascinating. I especially love the Red-footed Booby and Christmas Island Blue-tailed Skink. A funny story about the fat snake, though not funny for the skinks! Hopefully the population recovers well again. Such a fascinating environment. Edited December 10, 2023 by Sally Robertson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 Last batch from Christmas Island A young red-footed booby being rescued after falling from its nest. It had a broken wing and very little chance of survival. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hyde Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 (edited) Another mixed bag of shots from the last week or so. A homemade New York style Cheesecake and some Blueberry Muffins. A demonstration we stumbled into in Cardiff, Wales and a bit of horticulture… Medlars.. Edited December 12, 2023 by Steve Hyde 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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