Bush Mates : A Guide to the wildlife of Nelson Bay.: A Guide to the wildlife of Nelson Bay.

By Smith, Michael

Book Id: WPLBN0100750773
Format Type: PDF (eBook)
File Size: 7.96 MB.
Reproduction Date: 01/10/2001

Title:	Bush Mates : A Guide to the wildlife of Nelson Bay.: A Guide to the wildlife of Nelson Bay.
Author:	Smith, Michael
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Geography, Anthropology, Recreation, Diary of nature events.
Collections:	Authors Community, Adventure
Historic Publication Date:	2001
Publisher:	Self.

Member Page:	Michael Smith
Citation APA MLA Chicago Smith, M. (2001). Bush Mates : A Guide to the wildlife of Nelson Bay.. Retrieved from http://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
Many events in nature occur with surprising predictability. Only by keeping records of what you see happening, will you become convinced of this regularity. This book is based on 16 years of observations. It goes some of the way in documenting the annual bird and fish migrations, as well as the flowering of our plants and the life cycles of our animals. There are many worthy arguments for keeping such records. A number of people from the Timelines Hunter Group are doing just that. One possible outcome is to discover a more meaningful set of seasons to replace the ones transported from England, those of summer, autumn, winter and spring. By all means organise and share your observations with others. In time you will be able to derive great satisfaction from being able to tell the date to within a few weeks just by observing the happenings in the bush. Watching the seasonal changes on your own patch of ground trains you to be observant. You will begin to live more attentively to place.

Summary
Michael Smith has lived on the Tomaree Peninsula for the past 16 years. For most of that time he kept notes on the coming and goings of the resident birds, animals and plants. His observations are now published in a book titled Bush Mates. There are 134 pages, most of which are devoted to a week-by-week diary of natural events. There are complete lists of our local frogs, snakes, birds and animals. For the astronomer there is a monthly guide to the stars as well as plans for making a sundial, astrolabe, planisphere and a device for telling the time from the southern cross. There are chapters on local geology, plant communities and weather patterns. The bush tucker chapter has sections on natural dyes, bush teas, fragrant foliages and lists uses for 183 local plants as food or medicine. This is the second edition of Bush Mates. The first edition has been out of print for several years. Bush Mates, 134 pages, 514 sketches, is available from local bookshops and the Visitor Centre. Quotes from Michael Smith 'It has been a great experience spending years in the bush, tasting the plants and watching the carefully timed disappearences and returns of the characters of the bush'. 'Out there, beyond the back paling fences, occur sudden explosions of activity, which will last for a day or a few months. Each day fairy penguins come ashore on Broughton Island to sleep underground. Just before Christmas our rarest plant, the leafless tongue orchid, flowers and waits for a particular wasp to help pollinate it. Suddenly, in mid August, all the males of our local marsupial mouse population die within a week.' 'Most residents of the Tomaree Peninsula would be aware of some of the major events of nature, the June appearence of the humpback whales, the Easter blooming of the paperbarks, August wattles, and the huge die off of muttonbirds in October on our beaches.'