Sandy Horne

@sandyhorne.bsky.social

Birder. Amateur photographer. Mostly birds but other things at times. I spend a lot of time in my 4WD out in beautiful remote areas. Born on Gubbi Gubbi land. Living on Kaurna land. Feed cleansing one photo at a time. Introvert. Single. 64.

I've stopped to take photos of this ruin before. It's irresistible, especially in the good afternoon light. This place has the most perfect views of the Dutchmans Stern to the west. It's on Arden Vale Road near Quorn.

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The view from the top of the hill at the farm, looking roughly north toward the Flinders Ranges. Incredibly green and lush right now. Amazing to see. Near Quorn, South Australia.

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I travel the quiet dirt roads with a camera on my lap. Otherwise, I'd miss shots like this. An orange chat, taken from the car, just south of Hammond. (BTW, from Bruce to Willowie - a distance of about 40 km - I saw zero other vehicles. Bliss.) #birdsseenin2026

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New record high for electric vehicle sales in Australia over the past quarter. EVs now account for 21% of total sales, or 32% if combined with plug in hybrids. That's 103k EVs which will cut fuel imports by 128m litres per year, or 1.28bn litres over the next decade. That's real fuel security.

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My favourite raptor - the spotted harrier. There are a lot of these about right now. I spotted this one terrorising the ducks on a dam along the Richman Valley Road near Quorn.

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After the rock hopping at Buckaringa Gorge, I now have extremely sore feet and ankles. Every step hurts. I'm like the little mermaid, I guess 😄 Anyway, totally worth it to explore this beautiful area. This is yellow-footed rock wallaby territory, but we didn't spot any.

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If you have the BOM calendar, you may have noticed that it features one of my photos for August. I was so chuffed! This was taken on a nasty hot day in March last year. Cavin & I went for a drive in the hills east of Wilmington & looked out to see these willy-willies (dust devils) on the plain.

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A red-capped robin landed right in front on me on the handle of a rusty old lawnmower down at the creek on the farm. The pretty background is due to aloe flowers. I spent a lot of time at the creek and saw this robin several times.

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The Pichi Richi Railway's 'Afghan Express' travels from Port Augusta to Quorn and passes right by the farm where I was staying. In fact, the hills behind the train are part of the farm. After a bbq lunch, we went to the top to take photos on its return run and enjoy the views.

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A big busy day today, hanging out with friends and doing some photography. I got some nice pics of the Afghan Express steam train. So I'll have some good bird and train pics to share when I get home 🙂