Flora, mono, PEN F, Photography

Close to home

Another day with the Pen-F. Did I tell you what an absolute joy this camera is to use?

Good morning – sunrise colours from my deck

The following images were taken with the diminutive wide angle Laowa 7.5mm f2.0 lens. It looks so cute on the Pen-F 😀

Seat over the back fence
Frond of ferns

These following two large trees aren’t that far away from each other or my back yard, they survived being harvested in the early days of Hobart because of their imperfections for milling.

Crack in the base

Both were hit hard during a rather hot “controlled” burn about two years ago. They should have been better protected and the surrounding area cleared. Both now have cracks appearing in their burnt out base and will be lucky to last the winter.

There aren’t many trees this size and age left in the area. They provide homes or shelter for birds, animals, insects and micro-bats and are an important part of the ecosystem.

Almost rooted

These two were probably considered small compared to the trees that would have covered Tasmania before European settlement. There is a written account of a tree found on the mountains foothills from a group which included the first ladies to walk to the top. They took shelter in one that was over 12 feet across – INSIDE the burnt out base. One can only imagine.

Thanks for visiting my little corner of the interwebs and the place I call home 😀

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TasView (Tone)

Tone Bacon - Tasmanian photographer. tasview.com

25 thoughts on “Close to home”

  1. What a change we have made to the world. A few days ago I saw forty or so wood pigeons flying. That’s a lot in a flock nowadays. It might be a resurgence. When I was in my twenties I would see fields of hundreds of pigeons.

    “micro-bats” – what are they?

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    1. Tasmania has eight bat species.
      Little forest bat – Vespadelus vulturnus
      This is the smallest Tasmanian bat. It produces a single young and roosts in tree hollows. The little forest bat has mid to dark grey for on its back and dark grey fur with lighter tips on its belly.
      Forearm length: 29-30 mm, Body length: 40-50 mm, Weight: 4-4.5 gm.

      I’ve seen them flitting past occasionally at night like an apparition, and in one of these hollowed out trunks one night but never managed to photograph them. There’s a bit of info on Tasmanian Bats HERE the first pic is the micro bat.

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      1. Thanks – I think the Little Forst Bat is even a tad smaller than the pipistrelles we have here. It’s been a while, but same experience as you – when I lived in a rural area, the pipistrelles would come out at dusk and you could see them dodging past above your head

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    1. Thanks John, we had a better view years ago but some distant trees have grown. Now here’s me complaining about the trees 😉
      We had a windy day and snow last night, I might take a walk later to see if they’re still standing, one is pretty bad.

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      2. That thought may have crossed my mind John 😉 It!s actually a pretty big one down the valley on a neighbour property, so it will stay.

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  4. The sunrise picture is really amazing. The trees – wouldn’t it be wonderful to have been able to see the forests of giant trees in the early days? When you think of a tree as a plant that started from a seed, it’s mind-boggling to see a giant tree – and they can live so long!

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    1. I would have loved to see and often imagine what the area was like before Hobart was settled. There was a small island at the moth of the Hobart rivulet which is now under part of the wharf and the rivulet has been redirected under a hill. We still have a few big trees – the biggest flowering plant in the world – in Tasmania.

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      2. Separated from the rest of the world for the most part until 200 odd years ago. We’ve recently been discovered again by tourists. Every single hotel room is booked out this weekend!

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      4. Yep, can’t disagree, locals start giving up the very things tourists come to see. Change is rapidly happening here, more infrastructure to support the masses in our wild places makes them no longer wild.

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    1. Thanks very much Sandra, you never know just how you look through other peoples eyes – I stole that from a song 🙂 I just walked up to the trees with the dog and they are both still standing but the cracks have opened up further on one. Sadly it won’t be long before it falls.

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    1. Thanks Morgaine, Indeed, our collective greed will see the end of us. More people are waking up to the fact, but too slowly. They still log old-growth forest here, most of it gets trashed so they can put in more monoculture tree farms where weeds end up growing underneath. People vote and allow it so it’s legal, bit that doesn’t make it right.

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      1. I agree. Cutting down old-growth forests is wrong on all levels. It should be illegal everywhere and the perpetrators heavily fined. The only way to stop greedy corporations is to have them lose a lot of money.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I agree. The greedy corporation here is owned by our state government and is ironically called “Sustainable Timber Tasmania”. There’s nothing sustainable about clearing old-growth 😦

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