Baba, Benoit and Lucy - the young Crows at Burringbar, Mt Warning Caldera Region, NE NSW, Australia

The Crow Family that lives next door to me has taught me amazing insights into the world of Birds. Crows have long interacted with humans, becoming Totems to many cultural groups of the world, patiently cleaning up battlefields, dead animals, roadside kill and rubbish in parks and school grounds. Plastic in their diet has become a huge problem in cities. The chronic use of pesticides, fouled water supplies, habitat destruction and other scientific legacies have caused many challenges for Crow populations. Crows are extremely intelligent creatures, revered by cultures round the world, and significant to some aboriginal populations along the Murray-Darling System in Australia.

Benoit, the Young Crow, comes to visit (27.02.09) - Burringbar, Mt Warning Caldera Region, NE NSW, Australia

The young Crows that live next door to me are now 4 months out of their nest. Their eyes are still yet to turn a clear blue like their parents. Their voices are still slightly quieter and huskier than their parents. However, they are often seen spending time by themselves now, and quite often, their parents seem far away, in another valley, or further along the ridge where we all live.

Benoit, the young Crow early February, 2009

The Crows appear to live harmoniously with most of other birds, even the small variegated and blue wrens, honeyeaters, brilliant blue and white kingfishers, whipbirds,  honeyeaters, finches, silvereyes, magpies, spangled drongos, doves, pidgeons, whistlers and flycatchers. 

Their agreements with the kookaburras, currawongs and magpies appear to be constantly re-negotiated, depending on the time of year, and the age of each species' young. Now, I do not doubt the crows' ability to steal eggs or attack a vulnerable weak bird, but mostly, there appears to be a peace and harmony in the neighbourhood.

There are, however, times when the crows call loudly. From what I can tell, the loud calls relate to locating and messaging each other from afar, warning calls for other birds and animals, territorial calls, and negotiating - general "bird business" calls.

The Crows do not tolerate Hawks nearby.  They and the Hawks will chase at each other, somewhat fiercly at times. This sometimes happens with the kookaburras and currawongs as well, but only occassionally.

About 6 weeks ago, the nearby Sparrow Hawk parents brought their three new babies over to the Crows Ash tree that houses the Crow family's old nest. This nest is rarely visited by the Crows, but as soon as the baby Hawks came upon the nest, the Crow family went into action. 

The Baby Hawks, jumping and poking all over this nest, so high up in the tree,  then began to settle happily in the tree, trying to establish it as their own. 

Well, of course, the Crow family did not tolerate this. The Father Crow went into direct attack mode. The Crow children all fought the Hawk children, and the Father Crow attacked, and was in turn, attacked by, one of the parent Hawks. This was a very time consuming and long air battle, with occassional "face-offs" taking place on the power lines nearby. The parents would land very close to each other, and look right at each other for some minutes, and then the whole aerial battle would start again.

The Father Crow (left) and the adult Hawk (right) in aerial battle (Dec. 2008), next to the Crow Family nesting tree

It was the Father Crow who did most of the extreme aerial battling, and by the third day of the Hawks visit, the Crow family was getting no peace.  Then, an interesting event happened.

Late one afternoon, a large Wedge-tail Eagle appeared above, in the sky, thermalling eastward. The Father Crow took off after it (he was about 1/4 of its size). He attacked at this Eagle, again and again. chasing it high into the sky, above a neighbouring Crow family's nesting ground, a couple of km, further to the east. As he approached the other Crow Family's territory, those Adult Crows from that territory also came out to chase the huge Eagle. Eventually, the three adult Crows chased the Eagle far away. The Adult Crows then all returned back to the Eastern Crow family territory, and the Father Crow (Benoit's Father) didn't come back for some time.

Meanwhile, the children, Baba, Benoit, Lucy and their Mother, sat in the trees near their nesting tree, and waited. 

About half an hour later, the Children's Father came back, and took the family - Mother, Baba, Benoit and Lucy over to the neighbouring Crows' territory, and they appeared to spend the night there. I think, in hindsight, that this Eagle fighting and show of strength, was done by the children's Father, to illustrate his usefullness, and then a visit and stay over was negotiated, on this basis, so the Family could have a rest from waking up every morning, and having to deal with the Hawk Family's presence.

As I write this, the Hawks have once again been "showing strength"in the area, and the three young Crows, and Parents are out calling loudly, and doing "Crow strategy" in the territory, to warn the Hawks to stay away. The Children of the Crows are now young Crows, able to fly and fight and defend alot better, than at the beginning of the year.

Their young voices are assuming the hard qualities of an older crow, they can all call out very loudly now, and their vocabulary has become rather complex and involved. I can still distinguish the parent's calls from the children's calls, but possibly not for very much longer.

Meanwhile, Benoit has taken to becoming my "friend".  Benoit has been coming down to "humbug" for food.  I have been throwing out dog bones from the butchers, soaked barley grain, corn cobs and orange for the Crow family to scavenge from.  Benoit comes down from the trees and has long conversations with me. Crow vocabulary is indeed complex. Occassionally Benoit tries to copy my speech pattern, and I, in turn, try to mimic Benoit's

When I dig in the compost, I throw worms out for Benoit. Bending over to find a worm, Benoit has taken to hopping on my back, and looking over my shoulder, waiting for the worm to be thrown out onto the grass.

If I am out in the yard, and Benoit flies in to visit, sometimes Benoit will land on my head. This feels rather strange for me - hence, the photo below show my "wierd look" as Benoit perches atop my head, and tries to "work out" what I am about.

Benoit checks out my Sahasrara Chakra, (25th February, 2009)

Benoit the Young Crow - February 8th 2009

Benoit Mandelbrot, the baby Crow, at home in Burringbar

Benoit at home in Burringbar, Mt Warning Caldera Region, NE NSW, Australia

On the left is Benoit's Father waiting under the full moon before Benoit took his first flight.
In the middle is Benoit, on 20th January 2009 and the smaller pic of Benoit is when he had just left his nest - late Oct/earlyNov 2008. The other photos are of some of his favourite trees in his Burringbar home (NE NSW Australia)

Baba's ( the eldest baby ) First Big Flight - One week out of the Nest

"Valley of the Crows", Burringbar, Mt Warning Caldera Region, NE NSW, Australia

In the 9 weeks since the children of the Crows have had their fledgling flights, from their birth tree to the neighbouring Eucalypt, I have watched them venture further and further away.

They have more recently, at about two months out of their nest, taken long flights away to the major gathering of Crows (murder) down in the valley some miles away.

I have now seen the Crow children fly with their parents, high on the thermals, chasing Sea Eagles, Wedgetail Eagles and Hawks. This has proven to be rather dangerous, at times. 

When the children were very young, they also "play fought" and counted coup with Magpies and baby Kookaburras, while their parents watched on. 

During the first week out of the nest, the eldest Crow child, Baba,  had flown with it's father, high into the sky thermals, chasing after a Sea Eagle. 

On this day, sky was cloudy, and rather windy.  As the Sea Eagle passed their nesting trees, the father Crow swooped into the thermal, below the ascending Eagle, feigning attack. He was staying slightly away from the eagle, while the little baby Crow (who I believe was Baba, the eldest baby) flew much higher and further away from them, watching from above. 

Suddenly, the thermal took the baby Crow even further into the sky, with the Sea Eagle following skillfully, closing in on the baby. In the blink of an eye, both were far away from the father Crow, who instead of taking the air up, returned to their Eucalypt tree, and waited. 

Far above us, the baby Crow soared, higher and higher. The big Sea Eagle, over twice the baby's size, was in pursuit, occasionally flying to attack him. 

The father Crow waited in the Eucalypt below. The other two children and their mother were nearby, in their nesting tree, the Crow's Ash. The family waited.

The baby Crow was now circling far away to the north, with the Sea Eagle. They were approaching the clouds.   In a flash, the baby Crow veered suddenly into a fluffy grey cloud.

The Sea Eagle dodged quickly into the edge of the cloud too, after the baby Crow, then came out. After making another pass into the cloud, the Sea Eagle then kept circling slowly higher back into the blue sky, alone. Meanwhile the baby Crow had completely dissappeared. 

It was half an hour, before Baba, the baby Crow appeared again, and the family was all together, on the power lines outside, above the road. I thought to myself - baby Crows, are indeed amazing flyers, and very courageous!

The Crow Family (mother to the left, father to the right, children in the middle)

Children of the Crows, Burringbar, Mt Warning Caldera Region

Jeckle (father), Benoit, Baba and Lucy on the 1st of December, 2008. The Children of the Crows have been flying out of their nest for about 6 weeks at this stage, and they already have  had many adventures.

If you look carefully at the photo, you will see that the Father (left in photo) has a white scar on his right wing. He damaged his wing by firstly fighting a big goanna, then some local kookaburras. 

His wing hung badly for some months, and he came to me for help in feeding his three children. I left out clean water for them daily (sometimes I change the water twice a day), and put strips of meat, some corn, peanuts, avocado, mandarin, orange, soaked sultanas and barley seed for him, to help feed the children, himself and his wife. 

The crows, at this stage did not let me come close to them, and are very "wild". One of the children, Benoit, the second sibling to fly from the nest, began to strike up a friendship with me not long after this photo was taken.

The Bluecray Journey - the Bluecray Totem : how it all began

The Blue Crayfish totem is attached to my journey for Wisdom in the Land, and my journey to further Environmental Advocacy within the Mt Warning Caldera Region. This attachment occurred via a series of events and experiences that occurred within the Mt Warning Caldera , on the central east coast of Australia.

Totems can be symbolic spiritual and physical helpers in a world where nature has become largely divorced from decision making processes. Caring for a totem, and caring for the country or water that the totem lives in, is intrinsically tied with land and water stewardship and custodianship. Dreams, life experiences, instincts, higher mind, life continuity & journeys as well as relations with others can all be entwined by a totem.

This word - "Totem" - may conjure up many different images and ideas, depending on who you are, and how your life experiences occur. For me, a totem is something sacred, between me, my spirit and the land I live and breath in. I became aware of my first Totem when I was less than five years old. When I meet others with common totem bond, my connection with them comes very quickly, even when we share differences of opinion.

I would like to share my story with you - of how the Bluecray became this "Totem" ,becoming a partner in the journey for Wisdom in the Land.

Many years ago, I was blessed to work with some inspiring lay and professional botanists.

One such botanist, Dave Jinks, invited me to join him on a journey into the Springbrook National Park , SE Queensland, as he and members of the Queensland Herbarium sought out a beautiful Rainforest Tree species that he had discovered back in the 90's. The purpose of the journey was to find these rare trees, take botanical samples, returning to identify and classify them into a new known species - now known as Eucryphia jinksii . I tagged along as a spectator, and the journey has remained with me to this day.

This tree that Dave Jinks had discovered was extremely rare (currently listed as threatened under Qld legislation), with beautiful large cream white blossoms - a tall canopy tree that had remained undetected during white settlement of this region. It is considered to be a primitive relic rainforest tree from the great ancient forests of Gondwana .

To find this superb tree, we travelled high into the Springbrook National Park, passing a multitude of diverse vegetation landscapes and crossing numerous smooth bouldered streams running with crystal clear water. Brilliant blue crayfish seemed abundant in these waters, busily going about their day. Wending our way through the tall lush green stream lillies we eventually came to the place of the first Eucryphia to be sampled.

There it stood! A tall stately tree, covered in large white blossoms. And, at it's base - a small bright blue crayfish caught our eyes - clicking and waving its large claws as we approached the tree.

My heart & mind always remember this blue crayfish. Its courageous protection stance, snapping it's claws at us - like a little guardian to this tall ancient tree. A little protector, so small and fierce, in stark contrast to the passive stance of the graceful tree that stood behind it.

Now, of course, we all know that this small blue crustacean was merely protecting itself. However, my mindset was by now, within a very intuitive frame.

Symbols and nature abounded in this trek across the National Park - we had already stumbled across some other possible new plant species, and few European feet had trodden the earth that we stood on. The symbolic connection touched my heart and spirit, bypassing my scientific mind. That image of the small blue crayfish waving and clicking at the base of that great tree has stayed with me to this day.

I am no stranger to walking by the small, steep streams of the Mt Warning Caldera and suddenly coming across blue crayfish. They can even be found crossing the cow paddocks, following the irrigation lines over the cleared pastures of the Region's small plateaus.

However, this day WAS different. And I perceived the blue crayfish with completely different sentiment and understanding after that day.

Imagine how, in the higher altitude pristine waters of the Mt Warning Caldera, blue freshwater crayfish journey and live, in the diverse natural habitats that are now so sparsley interconnected and under so much pressure from the eager and busy work of mankind.

Blue Crayfish are tenacious, adaptable, genetically yet to be fully understood. A valuable, physically striking component of our biodiversity and natural heritage within the Mt Warning Caldera Region. To protect this little "protector" is to keep beautiful places safe. To respect this little "guardian", is to respect it's home, it's habitat, it's life force.

Bluecray.org - the environmental advocacy resources website -came about from a need to educate, inform and support others who care about the little things enough to protect them. By protecting these little things:- the "faeries"; the natural micro balances; the smaller, unseen or often undetected components of this great big beautiful blue planet; we can practise a caring stewardship towards the natural order of life.

This caring stewardship can help raise the level of healthy, inter-dependent biosphere habitats and niches that science has not yet analysed and justified as a reality in our existence.

Science, technology, environmental "practices", legal instruments, economic structures - all these things are in our recent earth's history.

Long before any of these human sentient capacities roamed our institutionalised minds, crayfish roamed the earth, sheltered at the bases of tall forest trees, wandered through clear mountain streams. A multitude of "little things" defended life from the larger, more unpredictable forces of asteroids, solar and earth heat, wind, fire, ice, storms and eathquakes and other great forceful elements of life. Bluecray came as a Totem to help defend this beautiful Caldera of Mt Warning and all it's naturally biodiverse wonders.

Links:

• Crayfish at Australian Museum online
• Euastacus salcatus - a photo
  
• more beautiful photography at steadyhands.net
  
• Lamington Spiney Crayfish at flickr.com
  
• Eustacus salcatus photos at oceanwideimages.com
  
• The Crayfish and Lobster Taxonomy Browser - Family Parastacidae (Southern Hemisphere Freshwater Crayfish)
  
• Freshwater Ecoregions of the World - Eastern Coastal Australia
  
• Biogeographic regionalization of Australia: assigning conservation priorities based on endemic freshwater crayfish phylogenetics - abstract (Animal Conservation (2000), 3:2:155-163 Cambridge University Press)
  
• Stream Lily at Wapedia
  

Eucryphia jinksii at Australian New Crops Website (supported by the Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation)

Eucryphia jinksii - Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS) - Australian Plant Name Index (APNI)

Australian National Botanic Gardens

Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research & Australian National Herbarium

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Values

• McPherson Range at Wapedia
  
• McPherson Range at Wikipedia
  
• Priority Rainforest Species - Border Ranges Rainforest from the Border Ranges Biodiversity Project
  
• Biodiversity Assessment NSW North Coast - at the Australian Government's Australian Natural Resource Atlas
  

Coomera Gorge and River - article for ecotourism at the Courier Mail 2008

Environmental Impacts of Ecotourism : Ralf Buckley

Regional Environmental News: Mt Warning Caldera Region NE NSW SE QLD Australia

Bluecray 's Google Custom Search will help you find Regional Environmental News for the Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE New South Wales & SE Queensland, Australia

Bluecray Frog Links Mt Warning Caldera Region NE NSW SE QLD Australia

Information about Frogs, Frog Educational Links and Resources can be found in this article. The Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW and SE QLD is home to many different species of FROGS. Frogs and their Habitats in the Mt Warning Caldera Region can be understood more by reading "Declines and Disappearances of Australian Frogs" (ISBN 0 642 54656 8) edited by Alastair Campbell, Environment Australia 1999.

• Frog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• David Suzuki Foundation - Science Matters - Solving Global Warming, Protecting Human Health, Conserving Our Oceans, Promoting Global Conservation, Building a Sustainable Economy

Australian Frog Links

• The Action Plan for Australian Frogs - Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts
• Australian Museum Information Disc - Australian Frogs -
• Australian Museum online - Resources - Herpetology Frog Links -
• Frogs Australia Network - sponsored by Zoos Victoria, this site will inform and delight. FROG EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES for everyone.
• The Frogs of NSW Wetlands currently at NSW Government Natural Resources -
• Water for the Environment Wetlands - NSW Government Natural Resources
• Useful Links & Frog Resources - NSW Government Department of Environment & Climate Change (DECC)
• Endangered Frogs - Queensland Environmental Protection Agency & Qld Parks & Wildlife Service
• National Recovery Plan for Stream Frogs of South East Queensland 2001-2005 -An important RESOURCE to help people in SE Queensland & NE New South Wales help the following FROGS:-

• Fleay's barred-frog (Mixophyes fleayi)
• Giant barred-frog (Mixophyes iteratus)
• Southern gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silius)
• Southern dayfrog (Taudactylus diumus)
• Kroombit tinkerfrog (Taudactylus pleione)
• Cascade treefrog (Litoria pearsoniana)
• New England treefrog (Litoria subglandulosa)

These FROGS have been given listed either nationally (under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) or by the Qld Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 1994. The listings range from vulnerable, endangered to very near extinction, in either SE Queensland or NE NSW or both Australian States. READ the National Recovery Plan and learn how you can help! The Queensland Environmental Protection Agency Publications or the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts Threatened Species Publications has the National Recovery Plan for download.

Currently (May 2008), if you look at the Australian National Threatened Species Listings for FROGS, there are 4 extinct frogs, 2 critically endangered, 14 endangered, and 12 vulnerable Frogs listed. The following Frog links will help you take action locally and regionally.

• Queensland Frog Society Inc. SE Qld
• Native frogs - Froggy facts and Disappearing Frogs at the Queensland Conservation website
• Frog Ponds - Queensland Government Environmental Protection Agency & Qld Parks & Wildlife Service
• Backyard Buddies NSW Department of Environment & Climate Change (Nature Conservation)
• Big Scrub Rainforest Landcare Group - Newsletter Page on Frogs & Cane Toads(2005) by John Pumpurs (amateur herpetologist)
• The Frog and Tadpole Study Group of NSW - FATS - based in Sydney, NSW
• Queensland Museum - Frogs feature -Amphibian Fact Sheets .
• Frogs in the School Grounds - Museum Magnet Schools
• Building Frog Ponds - Earth Beat - ABC Radio National
• Teachers' Toolkit -
• NSW Early Childhood Environmental Education Network -
• Endangered Animals preschool activities & craft including frogs
• Consideration for Frog Pond in the Tropics -

• Frogs - Abundance & Distribution in Australia (State of Environment Indicator IW-32)
• Change in Threatened Frog Species 1993-2004 (State of Environment Indicator BD-02)
• AUSTRALIAN FROGS - Lifecycles, key threats and more at theAustralian Government Department of the Environment ,Water, Heritage & the Arts
• AUSTRALIAN FROGS - an OVERVIEW by the Australian Government Department of the Environment ,Water, Heritage & the Arts
• Australian Threatened Species of Frogs - under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) - listings under Threatened Species and Ecological Communities -
• Threatened Species Publications -Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts - Books, Reports, Facts Sheets, Threatened Ecological Communities, Nationally Threatened Species and Key Threatening Processes FACTSHEETS

• Australian Museum online - research & collections
• Frogs of Australia - Amphibian Research Centre online
• Frog Community Forum Index - via Amphibian Research Centre

Some examples of endangered FROGS in Australia, their status and Conservation Strategies

• Fleay's Frog - Mixophyes fleayi - Endangered - Description, Distribution, Threats, Life Cycle
• Green and Golden Bell Frog - Litoria aurea - Endangered - conservation status in NSW ( Department of Environment & Climate Change NSW ) -
• Booroolong frog - Litoria booroolongensis - Endangered - conservation status in NSW

Global Frog Links

• GLOBAL Amphibian Assessment - Search for Frogs by species, name, taxonomy, country, region, threat, habitat, IUCN status
• AmphibiaWeb - an online database allowing free access to amphibian information. photos, sounds, worldwide.
• Conservation International - Fun Frog Facts for Leap Year 2008 with frog gallery
• Amphibian Ark - International Zoo, Botanic Gardens and Aquariums co-ordinated Public Awareness Campaign

CANE TOADS

• Feral.org.au - has Cane Toad information -
• Invasive Animals CRC has Cane Toad information -
• The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts hasCane Toad Information -
• Australian Museum Fact Sheet - Cane Toads -

Nature, Reflection and Learning - from bluecray.org

"It is good for man
To try all changes, progress and corruption, powers, peace and
anguish, not to go down the dinosaur's way
Until all his capacities have been explored: and it is good for him
To know that his needs and nature are no more changed,in fact,
in ten thousand years than the beaks of eagles" Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) from "The Beaks of Eagles"

Reflecting and learning through nature can lead to increased understanding and awareness of the nature of humans and our relationship with our world.Masanobu Fukuoka, is one such iconic 20th century example of how this can be achieved through his writings on sustainable farming in Japan.

Human history abounds with oral and written stories concerning human interaction with animals, plants, places and natural events. Australia, including the Mt Warning Caldera Region , is rich in such written and oral history.

Over the years, it has become scientifically recognised that in Australia (and the rest of the world), the presence and activity of birds and other animalswithin any given environment reflects the state of that environment and its ecological components. Environmental status, health, wellbeing and resilience can be reflected by the bird activity within any given environment.

This is not a new idea. Cultures of past and present ages throughout the world have practiced closely intertwined rituals and nature based ideologies. This has been as a matter for survival, cultural education and environmental wellbeing. New concepts and practices forming around nature and learning are crystallising and modernising age old practices, bringing ancient concepts to a modern scientific understanding. Janin Benyus, author of "Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature" (1997 William Morrow, NY), is just one of many recent advocates of a natural approach to environmental management and education. ( Nature's 100 best)

Meanwhile, I would like to talk more about birds. Take for example, the expression "a little bird told me" .

The Phrase Finder website gives a possible reference to the expression as "Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter" from Ecclesiastes 10:20 King James Version

Think carefully at all times where your mind leads you. Should a "little bird" take that thought far on the wind, and spread it beyond your life, into the world. Daily practice of loving thoughts have a widespread healing implication, nearby and far. Creating a prayer, for yourself, that a bird may carry, can set it free, on the winds of time.

The vision of a future where birds are happily living on this planet, and prayer to go with this vision, may be a good starting point to healing this planet with love. Furthermore, understanding nature and reflection on birds may be as simple learning to birdwatch.

Bird watching can be a simple, relaxing past-time, relatively cost free and extremely rewarding. There are many Bird websites on the internet to explore. Bird identification, information and resources can also be found in most libraries and second hand bookstores.

Bird Links at Bluecray.org

Al's CROW links