After about twenty minutes of easy driving, after taking the exit off the Hume Highway onto the Federal Highway heading towards Canberra, motorists will see a long, steep-sided hill range to the right with sporadic tree covering. To the left, Google Maps will display a large blue body of water, Lake George. For most of the last decade, people would have suffered cognitive dissonance looking at Google’s blue symbology but when they looked to where the water should be they would be confused by the dry, withered flat ground passing the car window. However, with the rain of the past 18 months the lake is almost back to its glory days. It is easily visible from the Federal Highway and a stop at Weereewa Lookout shows a body of extensive water covering the area between the high ground to the east and west. It is great to see the water in Lake George again, and to see the beautiful wildlife the water is supporting. I visited the lake twice recently and was thrilled with all the birdlife as well as the interesting insects. I of course took my camera with me and I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.
More of this story is on my blog at https://bit.ly/3HKvS55
A farmer’s fence stretching into the waters of Lake George, with the windmill farm in the distance and water birds in the foreground
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 125, 100mm, f/11 and 1/400 SEC])
Aerial panorama of the sunrise over a flooded Lake George in January 2022
DJI Mavic Air 2 [ISO 200, 4.5mm, f/2.8 and 1/500 SEC] eight shot panorama
This picture seems to capture an ethereal feeling of the fence heading off into a distance that the viewer can’t see
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 125, 330mm, f/11 and 1/400 SEC])
Table and other items in the water, possibly for flying remote controlled aircraft
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/11 and 1/400 SEC])
Broken, dead tree among dried, long grass, with an Australian Magpie perched on it
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/640 SEC])
Variety of birds making use of Lake George
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Black Swans on Lake George
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Masked Lapwings preening themselves
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
White-faced Heron flying over the lake
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Australian White Ibis on the wing
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Pacific Black Ducks
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 160, 400mm, f/11 and 1/800 SEC])
European Starlings perched in a dead tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 160, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Slender Ringtail on a grass stalk
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC] two shot focus stacked)
Large Brown Mantis female while laying her eggs and very aware of my presence
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 148mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Common Brown butterfly on a thistle
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/11 and 1/400 SEC])
I was thrilled to see Lake George full of water again, reminding me of how it looked so many years ago. The lake suffers under the long dry spells that are a feature of Australia and are set to get worse if the climate keeps warming. I hope that the current La Niña weather system will continue to come again in future years so that future generations will also have a chance to see Lake George and the beautiful wildlife that inhabitants the wetland.
Thanks for reading this post and thanks also for looking at my photos. I hope you come back again to read more about some of the wonderful natural things that the region around the Australian Capital Territory has on offer. All the best until the next post.
