Yellow Foots Thin On The Ground Today

Not much happening today wildlife wise, so I concentrated on obtaining some landscape and environmental shots.

The landscapes in the Flinders are stunning.  Red and orange rock cliffs that are flacked by dry watercourses with magnificent river red gums growing along the banks.  The sky is usually a strong vobrant blue that is common in high latitude desert environments.

It appears my NO 2 battery has died, so running the laptop and charging camera batteries from the vehicle is not possible. I will need to be careful using the NO 1 battery for accessory use as diesel vehicles require a good zap of battery power to start them - and a landcruiser does not have a hand crank and is very heavt to push start.

This is my last night at this location. After the morning shoot tomorrow, I depart for another location south of here. Hopefully, I will see some adults at this new location. I have only seen juveniles and sub adults here, although I did observe a few larger males higher up on the talus slope out of reach. As for tonight I will spend a few hours doing star trails....

Dusty Conditions

An early wake up at 530 AM and a short scramble to ensure I was in place for the early morning light. I want to capture the yellow foots as they made their way back up the slope to their daytime hides.

I'm particularly careful when photographing wild animals that I do not approach too close, which can cause undue stress and alarm. The desert environment is boom and bust - and energy used unwisely can cause potential shortcomings later on. Wet conditions are boom times and all wildlife profits, however, as soon as drought kicks in, only the strongest and most hardy survive.

The days here are quite warm with temperatures in the early 90s (30C). The wallabies hide from the harsh conditions in their rock shelters as photographers hide in their vehicle. The time between shoots (9AM and 3PM) I clean and service equipment, make meals, sleep, read, and reconnoiter new locations.

My base camp on this trip is nowhere fancy - in fact it isn't really a nice camping place at all; it was selected for its proximity to the talus slopes. It's along a dry creek bed and I parked alongside some river gums. Note I said alongside and not underneath; camping beneath river gums is foolhardy, as changes in temperature can cause tree limbs to fall. Several campers have been killed by falling tree branches in the past!

The biggest hassle I have encountered on this trip is photographing in extreme dusty conditions. I mean there is dust on everything and inside everything - and my vehicle is air conditioned and relatively well sealed! The dust has been made worse by a continual 5-10 knot wind which continually blows. At times during the day, the vehicle is buffeted as the wing gusts to 20 knots. Thank goodness it stops in the evening. Keeping digital camera sensors clean is a nightmare and I try to not change lenses if possible, instead relying on the use of 3 bodies with different focal lengths - more to carry in the field, but less work cleaning and dust spotting images during post processing.

Despite there being a multitude of camp sites available, every site captures the wind at some stage during the day, and the dust is impartial - it goes everywhere.  The dry rivercourse above is where I spent my entire time when shooting this assignment.

Photographing this afternoon appeared to a waste of time, until I observed a juvenile and mother amongst the cassarina trees. I also noted two sub adults mating higher on the slope, however, obtaining a clean shot of "mating behaviour" was impossible. The two wallabies in the trees were feeding on flowers located amongst the rocks. Due to the high amount of dust in the air clear images were not possible so I took solace in watching instead!

That night I listened to bats swooping low overhead feeding upon insects. I also heard several wallabies scurrying across the rocky creek bed in search of better food on the opposite bank.

Challenging Environment - No Turkey Shoot

The yellow foots are right there - not 30 yards. The light is perfect and it looks like an easy shot. Think again, as this is no turkey shoot.

I have to maneuver myself into a suitable position by jostling amongst the rocks, being careful not to fall from the 45 degree slope. The tripod must be placed securely because the light is low and a slow shutter speed will be used. Then there are the cassarina trees and the dead branches and logs that seem to be located in the most annoying places - like right in front of the lens!

I have to position myself so as to remove these annoying obstructions as no one wants an image of wallaby with a tree growing from its head! 7/10 times after all this moving here and there, the wallaby bounds away apparently tired of your sideshow antics. Add to this a very short time envelope due to the sun setting and minimal light (the location is a easterly facing cliff and the sun sets behind the cliff.) However, with patience (and time) a successful shot can be accomplished.

The image at left really does not to the region justice, but the yellow foots hang out on the ledge you can see.  To photograohy them you must drag yourslef and equipment up onto the ledges and around the base of the rocks.

Low Light, Talus and Yellow Foots (Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies)

The sun is beginning sink toward the horizon and "golden hour" is fast approaching as I make my way to the base of the talus slope. The yellow foots migrate down from the cliffs to feed on vegetation (grass heads and flowers) which grow at the base of the slope and in the dry watercourse.

The terrain in this area is not flat or even undulating. It is a 600 foot talus slope which progrades at the upper end to steep cliffs with rock shelters and overhangs, whilst at the lower end a dry water course meanders along the base. In between are loose rocks, boulders, and a species of cassarina tree (in the lower reaches). The wallabies spend their days in the safety of the higher cliff face, safe from the searching eyes of predators, such as wedge-tailed eagles.

This species of wallaby is endangered and can usually only be observed very late in the afternoon and during the very early morning - in only a few places in Australia.

If you want to photograph yellow foots in the wild, in their natural environment, you have little choice but to scale the talus slope. This on a normal day is difficult, now add 2 camera bodies, 3 lens and a tripod and see how you go! A missed step on a talus slope means expensive camera equipment broken and maybe a fractured ankle or wrist - needless to say care is required.

After a short climb in which I was desperately attempting to be quiet, but failing as rocks kept moving and clinking together as I made my way across them, I saw my quarry. Well, to be truthful they saw me first!

The yellow footed rock wallaby has a beautiful fur coat of orange, white and rufus brown colours. It also sports a very long tail which is coloured and textured like a tiger's coat - stripes. At the end of the tail is a ball of tuffy fur. The tail is an important aspect of the rock wallabies biology; without the tail, the wallaby would not be able to balance as it does precariously on rocks and cliffs.

Banishing these colours you would think that a yellow foot would be easy to see - guess again!

Despite it's striped tail looking like a warning sign on a highway, these critters blend in amazingly with their environment. The yellow and brown colours match the rocks they inhabit - and during low morning and afternoon light, when the rocks glow bright orange and red, and the animals are most active, they blend into their surroundings.

The image left gives you a pretty good idea of the terrain.  The talus slopes is very extensive and the yllow foots bound accross it at almost break neck speed when they have to.  Otherwise, they just crawl down the slope using their exceptionally strong tails for support.

As you can see from the colours, in low light this environment just explods into colour.

Preparing for Next Trip - Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies

I should be staying at home base post processing images from my recent America trip. But, with the few public holidays available at Easter, I've decided to do a quick field trip to South Australia.

Although this trip is substantially shorter than most of my trips (10 days thereabouts) it should be long enough to capture what I want. I intend to beeline from Hobart (via the vehcle ferry from Devonport, Tasmania) to Melbourne, Adelaide, and then onto the Flinders Ranges. The distance one way is approximately 2200 KM (one way). I know of three locations in the ranges (off the beaten track and only accessible with a four wheel drive vehicle) that provide the opportunity to photograph the rare and endangered Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus).

These wallabies are relatively small in statue and are probably one of the most beautifully marked wallabies within Australia. Photographing them well, in their natural habitat, is challenging. The "yellow foots" spend most of the day high on the cliffs seeking shelter within small caves and overhangs, and only venture down to lower terrain in the very late afternoon to spend the evening grazing on grasses along banks of streams, etc. In the early morning they begin their climb once again to the dizzy heights of the rocky escarpment.

Therefore, shooting is usually in very low light, in the we hours of the morning, or very early evening. Add to this the extremely dusty (and often windy conditions) in the desert and you have a situation not exactly conducive to acquiring good photographs.

It' unfortunate that my shooting partner couldn't make this trip, due to being involved in another shoot. Therefore, I will be alone and bush camping from my four wheel drive vehicle.

In addition to shooting at the three locations I know of, I will also be reconnoitering a few other locations in the area seeking areas to shoot on my next visit to the ranges. Other animals I expect I may encounter are emus, euros, kangaroos, lizards, and of course the usual selection of Australian endemic parrots.

I hope to keep this up to date on the trip via satellite internet - we'll see.