For our last night shoot of 2011 we went to the Knoll. I filmed an ethereal looking katydid or grasshopper, a sweet, diminutive roosting bird on the end of a branch above the path and a female Harvestman, which, being smaller and duller in colour, is more difficult to film than the male.
This evening Steve added the final bit of narration (which required 6 sessions in the sound suite) to the remaining rainforest at night vision, so we now have the bulk of the content of our next 3 archive DVDs. We still need to do some deletions, dissolves and incorporate interview footage of Jaap, Mark and me, plus a yet to be filmed re-record of my introduction. And I need to do the wording for the slick and commission its design.
For the first time since April 16, I filmed new moths on the garage at Central Avenue. The lights had been left off, thus killing my supply of any kind of moth. I filmed one large moth laying her eggs on the side wall, a rather unpromising spot.
I thought it about time to see if I could encounter Harvestmen during the day, so I went to the Knoll on the 15th and drew a blank, but yesterday in Joalah, I filmed four male and two female Harvestmen on a rock next to the path near Curtis Falls. Even more spectacularly, today I filmed six males in a group on a rock on level ground in Palm Grove. A seventh male was just round the corner. Both here and in Joalah, I thought my eyes wouldn't be up to spying the arachnids
My last piece for the year, about Abispa ephippium, commonly called the Australian hornet, in reality a Potter wasp, duly appeared in the Tamborine Mountain News. They were as good as their word and have published me fortnightly.
Following a meeting Vanessa Stanley, Kat Danger Sawyer and I had at my place about collaborating on an artwork, Vanessa emailed me details of a public art project at Queensland Museum on Brisbane's South Bank for which she wants us to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). The three of us had met earlier in the year at a discussion in Beaudesert at the conclusion of a joint exhibition of work by Vanessa and Jaap and then at Vanessa's beautiful and interesting artwork for the Brisbane Festival at the Powerhouse arts centre in Brisbane. Inter alia we discussed the idea of projecting my videos on walls in Brisbane, but the Museum project gives us an early opportunity to work together.
Our night filming took place during a rain shower and under wet conditions, so that everyone present was more concerned about fighting off leeches than spotting animals. Dan's girlfriend Jenny, kindly removed a number of leeches from my clothes. Standing still filming and holding a spotlight is a recipe for leech encroachment. I filmed a different semi-slug to the ubiquitous Black-spotted variety. Strange to think that when I first encountered it, I thought the Black-spotted Semi-slug might be a rarity. It remains one of my nightime favourites. I didn't film a Brown Tree snake that we saw. When I got home and took my trousers off I discovered I had 4 leeches camped round my waist, 3 in front and 1 behind. PS I am proud of the fact that I managed to stem the flow of blood in such a way that neither my make-shift night wear or my bedclothes had blood on them when I woke up next morning.
Today I celebrated my 70th birthday, enjoying reaching the biblical allotment of three score years and ten. Twenty four of us sat down to a terrific dinner at an excellent Indian restaurant, just up the road. We were all on the outer side of four tables forming a square, so everyone could see everyone having a good time, which for me added to the pleasure of the occasion. As did the fact that Nicole, Simon's fiancee, was able to meet my friends and they her, an all round resounding success. Co-incidentally on the day, I received a letter stating that I had been awarded the RADF grant. The work can begin after January 10 next year. A most unexpected and gratifying birthday present.
Night filming in the Knoll National Park with Mark and Dan. A good haul which included a male Harvestman, a Black-spotted Semi-slug, a Giant Water Spider and one of Australia's largest ant species, highlighted by a large Great Barred Frog with only one eye and a very docile Small-eyed Snake which fortunately for me, preferred the path to the undergrowth. This species is listed as venomous and dangerous.
Following a phone call from Jenny Peat, I filmed 2 Grey Goshawk chicks and an adult, on their nest some 20 metres up in a tree. The adult left the chicks to their own devices and only put in two appearances in over two hours, one fleeting, the other allowing me to get some hopefully good footage. One or other or both of the chicks were visible the whole time.