Susan McCreery
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susanmccreery.bsky.social
Susan McCreery
@susanmccreery.bsky.social
1.3K followers 530 following 1.3K posts
Writer. ALL THE UNLOVED out now. Retired proofreader (90 issues!) for Australian Geographic. Still work for trade publishers. Newbie freediver. Ocean, flowers, movies, birds, books, cats, silliness. Thirroul/Dharawal, Australia.

susanmccreery.com.au
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susanmccreery.bsky.social
Spent a glorious afternoon yesterday freediving (line training) in the pristine waters of Jervis Bay, NSW.

View to Point Perpendicular, the bay's northern entry point.
Image of open water with 3 yellow inflatable circular buoys strung together & attached to a boat (not visible) by a green rope. Freedivers with masks & snorkels, or fin tips visible. They are depth training below the buoys. Long landform in the distance & tiny historic lighthouse.
November 15, 2025 at 8:10 PM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
~ abalone iridescence ~
The rainbow colours inside an abalone shell that's lying on sandstone. Seen at Sandon Point, NSW.
November 14, 2025 at 6:13 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Contortionist!

Topknot pigeon feasting on the fruits of the bangalow palm just now. 🪶 #wildoz
A large grey bird with a red beak & eye hanging upside down in a fruiting bangalow palm. My garden. Thirroul, NSW.
November 12, 2025 at 9:22 PM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
The gardenias are scenting the air (and my home) with their creamy-white blooms on this sunshiny blue day, and it's just so uplifting.🥰
A couple of open gardenia flowers, and many buds yet to unfurl. Backdrop of greenery & a bright blue sky. My garden. Thirroul, NSW.
November 12, 2025 at 1:58 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
One of my lads loves packrafting, and here he is recently on the beautiful Tumut River, NSW, with a swimming companion. 'That is so cool!' (I have never seen a red-bellied black snake swimming. It really is cool.)
November 11, 2025 at 8:35 PM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Afternoon bushwalk (with glimpses of sea).🌿
A sandy track through dense bushland on the south coast of NSW. Glimpses of blue sky through the leaves, & sea in the distance.
November 10, 2025 at 6:25 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
This Illawarra flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolius) is looking FABulous at the moment (and prettying the pavement!).

Taken early this morning in Thirroul, NSW.
#FlowerReport 🌿 #ozplants
A slender bottle-shaped tree in full flaming-red flower on a suburban street against a brilliant clear blue sky. The flowers are sprinkling the pavement.
November 9, 2025 at 5:52 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
A south-westerly blew in overnight, flattening sea and sand and dropping temps.

Made for a beautiful swim across the bay.😊
View from Bulli headland north across the ocean bay to Sandon Point, NSW. Apart from two tiny clouds, the sky is clear. The ocean is flat.
November 8, 2025 at 11:13 PM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Greek doors, an occasional series.

Koufonisia 🇬🇷
A weathered two-panelled timber door with remnants of paint that's a kind of burnt sienna. In the upper panel is some fancy ironwork (rusted) & tucked behind this is green fishing net.
November 8, 2025 at 7:29 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
There was a moment.✨️
View east across the Pacific (in Thirroul, NSW) not long after sunrise on a bit of a cloudy morning. The sun has just peeped through. In the foreground: rocky coastline & orange nasturtiums on a grassy headland.
November 6, 2025 at 7:49 PM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Did a little moongazing by the sea this evening.
View from the headland at Sandon Point, NSW, across the sea to a (tiny!) rising full moon. The horizon is all soft blues & pinks & the sea is calm. The foreground is lomandra & sleeping yellow gazanias.
November 5, 2025 at 9:19 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
~ barnacle art ~
Clusters of barnacles on a rock. Some are still alive (see closed holes), some not (open holes). Most have been bleached white by the sun. Seen at Sandon Point, NSW.
November 4, 2025 at 5:38 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Please enjoy the soft blossoms of a lilly pilly (Syzygium) 'Cascade', seen in a local street. Thirroul, NSW.
#FlowerReport 🌸 #ozplants
Several soft pink ball-shaped flowers, bursting like stars on a green-leafed tree. The stamens are each tipped with white.
November 2, 2025 at 6:14 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
View from my hide.* 🪶

Male king parrot on deck this morning.

*pot plant
View through the blurred leaves of a coleus to a parrot with a bright red chest, neck & head & green wings with a lighter green streak. This is in Thirroul, NSW.
November 1, 2025 at 10:56 PM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Jacaranda season has arrived in Thirroul. (It's not a native but heck. Clouds of lilac & petal-strewn pavements some of us can do with.😉)
Big old jacaranda tree in bloom on a suburban street. The verge below it is purple with petals.
November 1, 2025 at 5:00 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Afternoon walk by Bellambi lagoon on a gloomy day and up popped this mercurial fluffball.💙

Male superb fairy-wren, south coast NSW. 🪶
Small bird with white chest, black beak & eye & parts of head/neck. Bright streaks of blue at back of neck, forehead & ear patch (?). Also blue seen in tail. Perched on a slender twig.
October 28, 2025 at 6:04 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Greek doors, an occasional series.

Koufonisia 🇬🇷
Double doors painted a pale green & set, flush at the top, in a low whitewashed stone wall. The doors are weathered & have two padlocks & a rusted chain but no handle. Grey clouds beyond.
October 27, 2025 at 5:34 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
This is happening right now.

Each one gone in a day.🌸
#FlowerReport
Epiphyllum, a cactus flower, in brilliant pink bloom. It's hanging in a basket by the trunk of my NSW Christmas bush. The background blue is the side of my house.
October 26, 2025 at 6:29 AM
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Here we have a lovely double display of flowers and fruits (+ even an ageing red leaf!) on a blueberry ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus).

Reason: they fruit April–Oct and flower Oct–Jan.

Endemic to eastern Australia, from SE Qld thru NSW, Vic. & Flinders Island, Tas.🌿
#FlowerReport #ozplants #ozflora
Dainty pink bell-like flowers with fringed skirts, & a cluster of blue berries hanging amid large green leaves (+ one red). A blueberry ash seen in Thirroul, NSW.
October 26, 2025 at 5:44 AM
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Drama overhead and a pearlescent sea for this morning's swim.✨️
Scene of a vast sky with dramatic clouds not long after daybreak. A calm sea below & land in the distance. Photo taken from Bulli headland, NSW.
October 25, 2025 at 10:43 PM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Well, this is a new (to me) and rather lovely native plant. It's called milkmaids (Burchardia umbellata) and flowers Sept–Nov. The tubers are high in starch and have been a food source for First Nations people for millennia. #ozplants #wildoz #ozflora 🌿
Six-petalled star-shaped white flowers with pink centres in a blurred bushland setting.
October 25, 2025 at 5:37 AM
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Three Keep Watch.

Pied cormorants on a blustery afternoon at Sandon Point, NSW. 🪶
Three pied cormorants (black backs, white fronts, orange faces) on the edge of a rock platform facing a turbulent sea and looking in different directions.
October 24, 2025 at 6:32 AM
susanmccreery.bsky.social
Thirroul morning.✨️
Image of a breaking wave with morning sun behind it. Thirroul beach, scattering of dwellings, escarpment beyond. Soft blue sky with scattered cloud.
October 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
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Here's a sample of what's in flower locally (plus bonus insects🐜). South coast NSW.🌿
#FlowerReport #ozplants
Broad-leaved drumstick (Isopogon anemonifolius). A yellow flower spiralling out from tightly packed centre. Flannel flower (Acinotus helianthi). Velvety white petals & greenish centre, plus three anty things. Mountain devil (Lambertia formosa). Scarlet cylindrical flower with narrow upright leaves. Scented paperbark (Melaleuca squarrosa). Soft & fuzzy brush-like flower. White with yellow tips.
October 19, 2025 at 5:23 AM
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Hold your nerve.
A sky in turmoil. Darkening layers of cloud & a wind-flattened sea. Viewed from Sandon Point, NSW, this afternoon.
October 17, 2025 at 5:50 AM