On Friday evening one of our neighbours asked us why there was a fire engine out the front of our place? We hadn't been outside due to the heat, (top of 40.3) so didn't have a clue what was going on. This is what they were doing:
Setting up a water tank for fire-fighting purposes. The company that built Lal Lal wind farm, Vestas, has donated several of these tanks to the local area. They will allow fire trucks working in this area to re-fill without having to travel back into the centre of Lal Lal for water. It is a really practical gift that could save lives and homes if a fire comes through here.
When I took this photo on Saturday, we seemed pretty safe from fire:
Actual rain! We ended up with 15mm for the day, which gave the garden a good drink, and filled up our own water tanks.
Today was "World Wetlands Day", so to mark the occasion we joined a Ballarat Environment Network excursion to two local wetlands.
First stop was the Mullawallah wetlands in Cardigan. When we visited in
April last year there was hardly any water to be seen, but today was a different story:
It was green and wet, and we saw many species of birds, including two Australian spotted crakes (which I had not even heard of before) and an endangered blue-billed duck. My little camera had no hope of photographing elusive birds. I had enough trouble with swans:
Only one of these swans is in focus. Other people on the excursion had lenses up to 500mm, and probably got some great photos. Over 100 species of birds have been seen in this wetlands, and about 20 were spotted by members of our group today.
Our second stop was somewhere we hadn't been before, the Haddon Recreation Reserve wetland:
Believe it or not there are more swans in this photo, as well as two species of grebe, and various other birds. We were fortunate to have experts with us who could recognise them. When "some sort of raptor" (my description) flew over, the experts could tell us it was a whistling kite.
The sky became quite threatening by the time the excursion ended:
and we drove through light rain on the way home.
7 comments:
A perfect way to celebrate the day - lots of rain for the garden, the birds and to get you out of the house.
I like the way the corrugated tanks blend in to the background, it's the same as mine. What a fantastic community contribution.
WOW--well at least you know there is water close to you, right? That has to be a good thing...
Nice that you got all that rain...hugs, Julierose
Great. Gift and how nice to have some rain. We'd love some... 45 today !
Water tanks are such a great idea to benefit the whole community! We ended up with 47 ml rain, which was lovely for the garden. Unfortunately just a weed magnet at the farm, but hopefully it also helped put out some fires.
The rain was so welcomed, wonderful gift for your community and close by.
I was pleased with your report on water supply and rain.
You had a beautiful trip to nature to see the birds. Marie
That is a great tank for the fire department's use. Summer rains are always so welcomed. Your garden must have loved it.
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