High f lier
L
ONG-TIME twitcher David
Stowe is keenly aware of
wingbeats; the sound, feel
and pressure changes as a bird’s
downward stroke and legs
combine to thrust it skywards. It
takes this special sense to capture
fleeting moments of avian
magnificence, a challenge that
keeps bird photographers
returning for more. David’s been
doing it for more than three
decades and his entries in the
Australian Geographic ANZANG
Nature Photographer of the Year
Competition have been numer-
ous. He was people’s choice
winner in 2013, and in 2015
wins the overall contest against a
record number of competing
entries – 2049 in all, a 40 per
cent increase on last year.
David’s winning shot captured
a lone white-winged tern that
had just swept its wings up in
preparation for take-off. His lens
zoomed in on the “wonderfulsymmetry and graphic simplicity”
of the flight feathers sharply
outlined against the blurred blue
and green of Lake Wollumboola,
190km south of Sydney. The
wings belonged to an outlier
says David – a single white-
winged tern, a migrant from
Eurasia, surrounded by a bustling
colony of little terns, which
arrive here yearly from Japan.
“A thought-provoking image
with immediate impact,” this
year’s ANZANG contest judges
said of the shot. It won David
$10,000 cash and a once-in-a-
lifetime journey for two on board
Heritage Expeditions’ Papua
New Guinea Explorer Voyage
in April 2016, valued at more
than $25,000.
NATSUMI PENBERTHYThe 2015 Australian Geographic ANZANG Nature
Photographer of the Year is David Stowe of NSW.
FIND OUT how to enter the 2016
competition in our Jan/Feb issue, and see
the 2015 category winners at: http://www.
australiangeographic.com.au/anzangthem leave the district. But we
realised that what we have here isn’t
just about Winton or our regional
community; this is a national treasure
and something that belongs to
Australia and all Australians.”
This notion prompted David to
broaden the quest for a suitable site
beyond the town limits. The search
led to a jump-up, or mesa (flat-topped
plateau), 24km outside of town. The
owners, Peter and Carole Britton,
generously gifted a 1802ha site to the
AAOD and the new national museum
was underway.
The main reception centre,
completed in 2012, commands
striking views of the surrounding plain
from its precipitous position on the
plateau’s edge and its architecture
blends seamlessly into the rusty-red,
boulder-strewn landscape. Further
along the clifftop is an airy laboratory
where volunteer preparators work in
comfort on dinosaur bones, and other
ancillary buildings for staff use.
Stage three of the museum is bound
to fire the imagination of every
dinosaur fan. Under development are
interactive outdoor exhibits, including
dioramas with life-sized bronze
dinosaurs and a pathway leading
visitors through geological time.
David hopes the museum will
achieve global recognition. “We need to
build something out here that has an
international pull, so we can welcome
people from all over the world,” he says.
The week following the big bush
gathering – which boasted high-profile
guests including AAOD patron and
former governor-general Dame
Quentin Bryce – David was awarded
the Medal of the Order of Australia
(OAM) for services to science. For the
self-effacing grazier-turned-palaeon-
tologist, and his extended family of
friends, staff and supporters, it was yet
another memorable milestone along
the road to a dedicated Australian
dinosaur museum.
CHRISSIE GOLDRICKFOR MORE INFO and to fi nd out how you
can contribute to the future of the museum,
WHITE-WINGED TERN: visit: australianageofdinosaurs.com
Chlidonias leucopterus
September–October 2015 21