Hey, all.
I’ve bitched about Summer on here more than once: the energy-sucking heat, of course; the harsh, high-contrast, drama-killing, colour-draining light (photographically speaking); the insanely early start required to reach the waterfront or creek bank in time for sunrise (just made it this morning by heading out the door at 4:10am); cricket; bad TV (I mean badder than usual, and not in a good way); Christmas…
So why bludgeon you with more of the same? Let’s focus on the good side of the Sweltering South-East Queensland Summer: the basking. Not mine — I don’t bask well, except in my own glory.
I’m talking about the lizards:
I’m still slogging through the pictures from Japan and have completed the editing of half a dozen days’ worth from that 47-day epic, plus several shots, at least, from each of the others. When Day 28, for example, starts to drive me crazy, I jump over to Day 13 for some variety.
At least six hours a day goes by like that. When my eyes start to hurt, I leave the library air-conditioning behind and step outside so I can refocus on something more than 18 inches from my eyes. It feels so good…
Other than that, on a good day there are afternoon storms (a possible one forecast today)…
..the magpies at home or in the park are a nice diversion, as are medication-induced naps enlivened by vivid and entertaining dream-sagas, and lately there’s Gilligan, my little grey butcherbird buddy here in the other park, who drops by daily for a few bits of meat while I enjoy my morning coffee in an ever-shrinking oasis of early shade.
A few days ago, though, I headed into the city to break the monotony with a few hours in the beautiful library there, and when the worst of the heat and light seemed to have passed, wandered back to Roma Street Parkland…
So disrespectful of all that incredible horticulture!
..to revisit the eastern water dragons I love watching and photographing:
I hadn’t visited Roma Street since last Winter, which, though typically mild, was chilly enough to send the resident reptiles underground. I asked a gardener, who confirmed that hibernation explained the disappointingly lizard-free environs, adding that I “might be lucky”.
I suppose I was: I found one, a halfwit, I suspect, who, like me, was wondering where everybody had gone.
Purple butterfly bush.
So it was great to be back in Dragon Country. I had a couple of enjoyable hours strolling the always-immaculate grounds of the Spectacle Garden and surrounds as the sun slowly sank behind the apartments leaning protectively over the lawns.
The shots here feature perhaps eight or 10 of the numerous mini-saurians I stalked. All were shot, as always, sans telephoto, which means I had to do some reptilian belly-crawling myself, inching as close to the beautiful big buggers as I could.
More than once I was charged by a big, burly male, presumably responding territorially to the spiny brute reflected in my lens, or perhaps because he just didn’t approve of harassment by the paparazzi.
Either way, a relic from the Age of the Dinosaurs bearing down on you from above is always startling!
For the camera nerds: this one and the last shot were taken with a cheapo 16mm pancake lens plus an ultra-wide adaptor on an old Sony NEX 5N. The others were all shot with a Sony a7 or RX1.
I also witnessed an impressively violent tussle between two testosterone-charged males: it was like one of those old Ray Harryhausen plasticine-dinosaur spectacles. But in colour.
One thing I love about these dragons is the backdrop of flowers. Dragons plus floral colour is a weird but somehow very Queensland combination for me. You’ll notice that shades of purple dominate at the moment — also nicely complementary with the shimmery streaks in that delightful dragon leather.
Not sure what this plant is — couldn’t find any signage. Anyone help?
Alright, nearly outta shade. I’ll leave you with the pictures and see you soon.
Meanwhile, if you’re interested in previous dragon posts, you can try here (from back when my camera skills and equipment were rather more basic) or here for the first part of my “Dragon Trilogy”.
What’s with the toe?!
A Study in Paranoia.
Petunias in the Topiary Garden.
This was the loser in the territorial battle I witnessed (but was too slow to photograph). He bailed for the security of a mondo-grass verge.
And the winner is…
Purple agapanthus.
“Flat-out like a lizard on a rock” ~ Australian expression. “Flat out” is Aust slang for really busy.
On the Tiles.
White butterfly bush.
In a cotton-tree thicket at a edge of a pond. As their name suggests, water dragons are as happy in the water (they can stay submerged for over an hour) as on the land — or in a tree.
Agapanthus-lined pathway.
White agapanthus.
Just before leaving, I tried to capture the activity on the lawn below, where exercise junkies were punching and throwing balls at each other on the left, while a couple posed for wedding pictures on the right. A security guard appeared and asked if I was aiming my lens into those apartments beyond the lawn. I told him it was a wide-angle, and that those apartments looked “like they’re five miles away”. But he did give me an excellent idea for future posts, and when I do purchase a nice long lens, I’ll be back to give you something truly memorable.
~ And that’s all the Goat wrote
