Photography, if you’ll pardon the pun, has been the lens through which I’ve explored the world around me.
From the very first photo attempts with Mum’s Box-camera, “Keep the sun over your left shoulder, Dear!”, through a Kodak Star camera as a present, to graduating to a the Magic Carpet of a Super-Balda 120 roll film adjustable camera, the visual journey has always inspired the enthusiasm, imagination and dedication of making remarkable images of everyday things and events.
Those first ‘photos’ of Blackie the cat, asleep, in the sunshine, on the porch, to the blurry shots of a “Red Rattler (train) passing under the footbridge at Hampton railway station, may not have passed on down through the tunnel of time, but each press of the shutter today, still carries the memories of those early moments.
Photos have always been part of my life. The National Geographic Magazine, stacked year by year ready to fill in a rainy day on the couch, later, Life Magazine at the local library on the way home from school, and I’ve mentioned before the special librarian who must have had a fascination in Photo-folio books that let me explore how others saw the world around them.
And on reflection, (another photo pun!) each press of the shutter, like a tiny drop of water shimmering on a leaf, opens up new vistas of exploration. David Malouf said it this way.
… in dreams that blow in from out there bearing the fragrance of islands we have not yet sighted in our waking hours, as in voyaging sometimes the first blossoming branches of our next landfall come bumping against the keel, even in the dark, whole days before the real land rises to meet us.
– David Malouf, An Imaginary Life
We don’t get Sooty Oystercatcher on our beach zones as regular visitors. Their Pied cousins while not regular are among some of the usual visitors.
So its always pretty exciting to spot a Sooty along the beach. Unfortunatey they are quite human adverse and will fly further down the beach or wade out on low tide to the safety of rocks far to far away for photography.
This one chose a halfway point, and I tentatively tippy-toed around the small shallow pools in the low tide sand to get the chance to isolate the bird against the water. Fortunately it stayed.
There is dear reader no connection. that I’m aware of, between the black of the Sooty’s feathers, and Blackie the cat.
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER doesn't mean I'm LOST 
Beautiful to see David…!!!
Lance
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Hi Lance, I was pretty happy that it was relaxed enough to tuck up one foot.
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A fine study, David! Never an easy bird to work with!
Especially along Altona beach when people have their dogs running free!
That is a long tale for another time!
Interesting to get a snippet of your photographic journey too!
Dave N
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G’dave, yep Altona is my kinda go to spot for Sooty. The dog thing there is out of control. But as dog owners vote and birds don’t not much is likely to change. They do have a great team of Conservation Rangers but making real impact is almost a lost cause
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Gorgeous! Thanks David 😊
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Thanks A!
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Loved your little trip back in your personal photography history David, and yes the Sooty is very different to Blackie the cat. We see Sooties occasionally with the Pieds on our beaches. Sadly our national parks authorities allow large 4WDs onto our beaches and nesting areas have been destroyed, causing them to become endangered in our state. I grew up with Blackie the Cocker Spaniel, sadly it had no road sense, but boy it could faithfully retrieve sticks even from a roaring surf.
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Hello Ashley, we get numbers of Sootys further up the bay about 7-8k but they dont seem to frequent our more southerly end. Pieds are not common, but not unusual they certainly don’t nest anywhere in the area. The only time I’ve seen Pieds nest is in a far stretch of the WTP.
Among the dogs we grew up with was a Fox Terrier-Blue Heeler cross with a touch of whippet I think. :-). She wasn’t much of a retriever, but on scent of a fox and she’d go for miles. We’d often have to sit down and wait for her to come back. Black billy brew on, life was tough in those days.
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Great that you were able to get the background of the water, and your subject was tolerant of your movement! Those black feathers really gleam in the sun.
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