Friday 24 July 2009

The Flight of the Bogong Moth (Skywatch Friday)




A pic from my stock of Sculpture By The Sea snaps from last year. (To view all my 2008 Sculpture By The Sea posts CLICK HERE.) I hadn't previously published it, even though it was a favourite - I was saving it for a Skywatch Friday, and then it kind of got lost in the picture vault!

Perched on one of the sandstone cliffs between Bondi and Tamarama, which make the most dramatic open air art gallery, is this wonderful piece by Marguerite Derricourt. It was yet another favourite of mine.

Derricourt says: "On their annual migration from Queensland to the caves of the Snowy Mountains, the bogong moths are blown off-course and end up clustering in their thousands on lighted windows in the city."

Some years in Sydney, there are bogongs a-plenty. Other years, none. You can read all about them here, and here . Bogongs were an important protein food source for Aborigines who roasted them in hot ashes and mashed the bodies to make 'moth meat', which is said to have a nutty taste.

To see skyscapes from around the world, click here.

14 comments:

  1. I love the light globe concept and then also the close up of the bogong. What an extraordinary moth that is!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice blog! I came over from Skywatch Friday. Also like the whimsical yard sculpture!!
    Dorothy

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love it. The close up was great.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cool sculpture. I love the first one with the sun behind it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. How absolutely incredible. So glad you showed the detail and thanks for the explanation. I loved this series before and am so glad to see another.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very nice! It's fun to see close-up and then in its entirety.

    Happy Friday!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. A very interesting piece! I'm glad you found the photo.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Very nice series of views/angles. Very crisp too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the sun poking through the sculpture. It already looks like a lightbulb and the sun just adds to the illusion.

    Please visit me: Picture This . . .

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm so glad you found it in your vault again — it's wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That is amazing! I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow! What an amazing sculpture!

    ReplyDelete