The COVID Chronicles – 4

Geneva, 17 November, 2020


Kylie Minogue has set new chart records with her latest album “Disco.” She says that recording the vocals at home was “a lifeline” during the lockdown. The petite Australienne becomes the first female artist to have a number one album in the UK in five separate decades. Go, Kylie!

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Photo: Getty Images

Not many people outside the UK will be familiar with the name Tony Blackburn. Don’t worry! In the mid-late 1970s my summer holiday job was selling ice creams out of a Ford Transit. The van’s roof was a huge fibreglass vanilla cone with a Cadbury’s flake protruding at a racey angle. My ultimate Pavlov-kiddy-drool attractor was a chimed version of Popeye-the-Sailorman and I was quite the boy around the housing estates of my hometown, Norwich. BBC’s Radio One pumped out the songs of the day and Tony Blackburn was the bright young DJ who led the nation’s taste in popular music. I will survive. Don’t go breaking my heart. Boogie nights. Heaven must be missing an angel. Crocdile rock. Stayin’ alive. You’re the first, the last, my everything. Dancing queen. Our Tony peppered his show with jokes such as “What happens when the ducks fly upside down?….They quack up!” and “Why are there no aspirins in the jungle? ….. Because the parrots eat ’em all!” He had the infuriating habit of talking over the songs but the nation forgave him because he seemed like a nice kind of bloke. No surprise that he loves Kylie’s new album. The surprise is that he has revealed a piercing insight into our covid-weary psyches. Whilst admitting he can’t dance – and at 77 years, has no intention of learning – he reckons we will all be so desperate for good times after this dark year that we’ll step back in time and back into the clubs. We’ll be looking for music that makes us really happy and gets us on the dance-floor. Yes, disco is back! I hope he’s right. It was a great era and I like a good tune.

Taking us one step closer to better times is, hopefully, THE Vaccine. We’re all clutching onto this piece of positive news. At last, there is light at the end of the tunnel and, my…. How the tone of things has changed from the doom-laden to the cautiously upbeat. There are of course many issues such as production of the vaccine in sufficient quantities, the logistic challenges, who gets priority treatment and, of course, the cost. There are other broader questions about the implication of a COVID-19 vaccine. When can we stop disctancing and mask-wearing? Will jobs and businesses bounce back? Can we begin to think about taking a holiday overseas? In other words: when will things get back to “normal”? Meantime, we still have a pandemic to manage and there remain many unknowns.

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Take a look at a map published by the Swiss authorities of the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population for the different cantons of Switzerland. The darker the colour, the more cases. In the Canton of Geneve where we live (the dark most westward protrusion) nearly 6% of the population have tested positive since 8 June. Ouch! I believe these statistics. It’s the sort of thing the Swiss do with great attention to rules, routine and detail. Surprisingly, the dark areas coincide precisely with the cantons that are French-speaking (and broadly with the major wine-producing cantons!) I’m not really sure what to make of this. To my knowledge, nobody has commented. Anyone out there with an idea?

The USA has more COVID-19 cases than any other country. Using the Johns Hopkins data, I thought it would be interesting to look at something else that has slipped by with little comment; that is the comparison between the USA (now more than 140,000 cases per day) and ….

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USA cases per day. Source: Johns Hopkins

….. China! The source country  – with the world’s largest population – that has barely shown a resurgence and is currently running at less than 100 cases per day. 

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China cases per day. Source: Johns Hopkins

If the data are to be believed – and I believe they are because it would be difficult to hide millions of affected people from a global media ready to pounce – China has nailed this pandemic through a system of immediate isolation of those infected and strict imposition of social distancing measures. This has been reported in an article entitled “China’s successful control of COVID-19” by Talha Burki in the Lancet. The report makes for interesting and sobering reading for those supporting lockdown. This diplomatic extract says it all: “In China, you have a combination of a population that takes respiratory infections seriously and is willing to adopt non-pharmaceutical interventions, with a government that can put bigger constraints on individual freedoms than would be considered acceptable in most Western countries.” The author adds “Commitment to the greater good is engrained in the culture; there is not the hyper-individualism that characterises parts of the USA.” It seems that tough measures are effective. Those against lockdown should note that the Chinese economy has reportedly bounced back from its early lockdown with growth of 4.9% in the third quarter of the year. 

Here we are again: the big political tug o’ war between an effective public health response versus individual freedoms and economic well-being. What is new is that we have a much better idea of what is at stake. We might eventually find that an effective public health response is a precursor to a brisk economic recovery. This does not bode well for the USA where the adoption or not of strict measures has fallen according to pre-existing political fault-lines. “There will be no lockdown! We must keep the economy going!” yells Mr T.  When faced with a crisis that affects every human being on the planet, isn’t it possible for our leaders to cooperate with responsible agencies, to act together and just for once to put their own political wumpsy-dumpsy aside? Yeah, I know. Dream on! 

Within a few days of the announcement of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, the anti-vaxxers kicked off. I heard one interviewed who said “I don’t trust it. It’s been rushed! I don’t think it’ll be effective!” Over the next months, look out for this crew. Social media has given them a powerful collective voice and they snag politicians easily. I’m always mystified by what people believe, despite the science, and how they claim others believe the same thing. In relation to the widespread belief that planet Earth is flat rather than spherical, I heard that the Flat Earth Society (it really exists!) claims global support.

As I finish up this edition of the COVID Chronicles, Dustin Johnson is tapping in his final putt of the COVID-19-delayed 2020 US Masters. He simply stormed around the wet Augusta National course and away from the rest of the stellar field with a record 20 under par. The event, for once draped in autumn colours, has never before been played without spectators.

The COVID Chronicles – 3

Geneva, 10 November, 2020


We’re back in sort-of-lockdown in Geneva; it is one of the most seriously affected cities in Europe. It is quiet but not the eery quiet of March. There are still jet streams in the crisp November sky. Businesses and construction sites are at work. Restaurants and cafes are closed with some offering takeaways. People are out and about but they don’t have the same anxious air about them. I have the impression that this second time around we are calmer; that we have a better idea of what we are dealing with. One thing is sure: no annual trip to spring time New Zealand to hunt out those big brown trout. As we slide from autumn into winter here, I figure I’ll have time to write up these chronicles and maybe do a bit more painting.

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African masks have always fascinated me. Their full meaning may well be beyond my reach but I am always struck by how expressive of emotion they can be. I used a variety of on-line resources for this picture; I worked on it with bad back (see below) during the extraordinary waiting days of the US election. My thoughts must have run from my time working in Africa to the slave trade to the history of black people in the Americas, to the Black Lives Matter movement and finally to what the election result could mean for the whole race thing. I thought the two masks might represent how many people in the world would be feeling before and after Biden’s count passed the necessary 270 to get him into the White House. 

In relation to the COVID-19 situation in the US, I came across a truly remarkable video-graphic made by Dan Goodspeed. It shows, by state, just how the great political divide in the US determines the speed with which the pandemic has taken hold depending on whether the state in question was Republican or Democrat before the election. Yes, the political leaning of people is a major factor affecting their COVID-19-related behaviour both at personal and community levels. Perhaps this is data telling us what we already knew? On this side of the Atlantic, the UK’s Brexit Party is planning to rebrand itself as “Reform UK.” According to the party’s leader, Nigel Farage, the central drive of Reform UK will be anti-lockdown. He claims we’d be best off if “we learn to live with it, not hide in fear of it.” No surprise then that we saw Mr Farage on stage supporting Mr Trump at pre-election campaign rallies.

Apologies! It’s difficult to get away from the politics of it all just now. Much closer to home, I’ve had a bit of a week! My wife and I were due to play golf last weekend at our club just over the border in France. The number of COVID-19 cases increased so rapidly around here that the course was closed and we couldn’t cross the border anyway. This put a large black cloud over my normally sunny disposition that was already and rapidly becoming less sunny as the news of the pandemic’s resurgence really hit. However, another diversion was on offer as compensation. Saturday television ran the postponed and crowdless final three matches of the Six Nations Rugby and the first ever European PGA Cyprus Classic golf tournament. Normally an active chap, I found that lying slumped on the sofa for several hours came naturally and was indeed quite enjoyable. It kept the lurking curmudgeon in me at bay. Unfortunately, my lumbar spine was held for the duration in ill-advised flexion. And so, at the end of this telly-fest, I got up … well, I didn’t get up because I couldn’t. My back was painfully locked. I spent three days staggering around grabbing at chairs, doors and my lovely wife for support. My doctor had some difficulty believing that I had done my back in lying on the sofa watching sport. Being a good egg, he nevertheless prescribed some very expensive (even by Swiss standards) medication that seems to be taking effect. Later, when filling in the medical insurance e-claim form, I noticed a new box to tick: “Is the sickness related to COVID-19.” Interesting question! I followed my condition’s chain of causation back; logic dictated that I tick the box.

This last weekend was the Houston Open Golf. It was won by a charming young Mexican: Carlos Ortiz. Notable also and surprising was the large crowd of spectators; they stood shoulder to shoulder and only about fifty percent were wearing face masks. Well, it is in Texas (Republican.) 

The non-golfer may be interested to know that the upcoming week is the big one of the year. Tiger woods (you will have heard of him) will be defending his US Masters’ title at the iconic and immaculate Augusta National Golf Club. Augusta is in Georgia. (Newly and only just Democrat!) We’ll see what the crowd is like.

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I painted this layout of the Augusta course on a large American flag in 2012. That year, Bubba Watson, a good bible boy, navigated his little white ball safely around “Amen corner” (upper right… lots of water!) He went on to win this title for the first time and, touchingly, burst into tears. I offered this painting as a prize in a local golf competition. The lucky lady who won it was thrilled but had difficulty getting it into her car. I saw her again last year. “Hiya! Still got the Big Bubba painting?” I asked. “Yes, of course!” she replied. “We love it! It’s hung on the wall of our bike shed!”

Just as I finish writing….. News comes in that Pfizer and BioNtech have finalised a trial that shows their new COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective. The stock markets go crazy. Politicians claim credit. Public health experts are “optimistic” but can’t help sounding a bell of caution. The BBC’s disinformation and social media reporter, Marianna Spring, emphasizes that this is not a way for Microsoft boss Bill Gates to secretly insert microchips into people so they can be tracked. I wonder what Florence Nightingale would have thought of all this?

Ross Coupland’s bird photography in the time of COVID-19

Here’s a fabulous selection of bird photographs taken recently in the Queensland outdoors by Australian wildlife expert, Ross Coupland. Great images! A great read! Great Lockdown Beautiful Stuff!!


During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was reduced to three days’ work per week. This gave me time to get out into ‘the bush’, in isolation; watching and waiting for good photo opportunities. I have selected my favourite shots from this time for Talking Beautiful Stuff.

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Beach Stone-curlew

As the global pandemic gathered pace, in March 2020, I took a trip to Rainbow Beach north of Brisbane. The area is part of the Great Sandy National Park, an area of over 2000 km2 comprising threatened coastal habitats and including Fraser island, the world’s largest sand island. I found a family of Beach Stone-curlews living on a spit of sand, close to where the ferry loads and unloads thousands of 4WDs every year. Returning at sunset, I was able to get close to one of the birds as they are less shy and become more active towards the end of the day. The setting sun provided a beautiful, golden backlight. The species is threatened in parts of its range, as coastal areas are continually developed for tourism and local recreational use.

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Comb-crested Jacana

With COVID-19 restrictions being placed on travel throughout the state of Queensland, I was limited to areas close to home. Thankfully, here in Brisbane there is no shortage of parks, reserves and forests within an hour’s drive. Visiting one of my favourite lakes early one morning I saw a lone Comb-crested Jacana foraging on the lily pads. Their incredibly long toes make walking on the flimsy substrate a breeze; some people call them Jesus birds. I was able to get a nice, low angle by laying on the lake shore, blurring the lilies in the background.

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Forest Kingfisher

At the same lake, there is a family of Forest Kingfishers that hunt the shallow waters around the vegetated inlets. They use a few, select perches to watch for small fish and insects, one of which is a dead tree close to the walking track. I set up my tripod and camera behind a tree on the bank with just the end of the lens protruding and waited…. and waited.. Finally, after 2 hours, one of the kingfishers settled right in front of me with a small fish in its beak.

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Rose-crowned Fruit Dove

By August and with restrictions easing in Queensland, I took a trip to Bribe Island that is accessible via a road bridge to the mainland. It is an important area for many bird species. There is a small population of Rose-crowned Fruit Doves which are known to over-winter there, in a small patch of remnant, coastal rainforest. They seem to feed almost exclusively on the berries of a single Corkwood tree. These are normally shy, secretive birds that live in rainforest canopies on the mainland, so this was a good opportunity to capture an image of this spectacular species.

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Regent Bowerbird

As spring approached, I visited a friend’s property where several Giant Spear Lilies had sprung into bloom. These impressive plants produce enormous flower-spikes with bright orange-red flowers that act like a beacon to birds and insects from the surrounding green rainforest. One of the birds that visited was this male Regent Bowerbird. The males have a striking combination of yellow and black feathers, whereas the females sport a rather drab, scalloped brown. Male Bowerbirds are well known for their habits of building unusual and sometimes spectacular structures out of twigs and decorating them with a wide variety of foraged items. These structures are used as display platforms to entice in female birds to mate. The females then build regular nests in the forest nearby and raise the chicks alone.

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Paradise Riflebird

The species I was really hoping to see on the Giant Spear Lilies was the elusive Paradise Riflebird. This is one of four species of birds of paradise found in Australia and the most southerly occurring. They are hard to see at the best of times; it is rare to get a chance of a good photo. The males have an iridescent quality to their plumage, only visible at the right angle of light. In the hope that a male bird would visit, I set up with my camera underneath a special camouflage net and waited. Sure enough, after about an hour the male arrived to probe the flowers for nectar with his specialised bill. The thin fog in the area gave a nice, diffused light that was perfect for bringing out the subtleties in the bird’s plumage.

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Crimson Rosella

Another bird that is common in the same area is the Crimson Rosella. These colourful parrots are generally found in more temperate regions and in Southeast Queensland are restricted to mountainous areas with cool, wet forest. I found one feeding on a roadside Rondeletia bush. When parrots are feeding, they can be quite approachable if you do nothing to alarm them.

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Musk Lorikeets

On a trip to the western part of the Scenic Rim, a crescent-shaped mountain range southwest of Brisbane, I found a group of huge Grass trees in full bloom. These impressive flower spikes are particularly prolific after fire and are a magnet to nectar-feeding birds such as Honeyeaters, Lorikeets and Spinebills. I have struggled to get close to Musk Lorikeets in the past as they are nomadic and usually feed high up in flowering Eucalyptus trees. I was delighted to find about ten of them feeding low down on the Grass tree flowers. When a pair was feeding on a close flower spike, I turned the camera to portrait orientation to capture both birds in the image. They seem quite content with me being close by while they fed.

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Barred-cuckoo Shrike

The weather begins to really warm up in Brisbane around the beginning of October; migrating birds from the north appear. Among them is the secretive Barred-cuckoo Shrike. I had never seen this species in Brisbane before and was able to get a clear shot of this one perching high in a Small-leaved Fig tree.

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Channel-billed Cuckoo

Reports of Channel-billed Cuckoos arriving in the area had started to come in on social media! These raucous brood-parasites from New Guinea make their annual southerly migration to Australia around October; they use unstable air masses and thunderclouds to ease the effort of the long-haul flight. They are consequently known by their colloquial name ‘Stormbirds.’ They are the largest cuckoo in the world. Many folk dislike them for their sullen appearance and loud squawk while flying around at dusk and dawn. However, I rather like them and consider their presence a welcome omen of warmer, productive times ahead for the natural world!

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Pale-headed Rosella

We are fortunate in Brisbane to have several sizeable botanic gardens which are beautifully maintained by the council. One of them has an impressive native plant section including Grevilleas that when flowering attract one of the most spectacular parrot species in the area, the Pale-headed Rosella. These are notoriously hard to get good, close views of. They are intelligent birds and highly wary. However, the birds in these gardens are perhaps more accustomed to human traffic and seem happy to be approached while feeding.

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Diamond Firetail

In mid-October, my wife, Kelly, and I took a trip to the Granite Belt region, about 3 hours southwest of Brisbane. The striking granite outcrops make for interesting scenery along the way. This area offers glimpses of a stunning variety of birds. On this trip, I clocked up 87 species of which ten were completely new to me. A highlight was staking-out a muddy puddle on the edge of a road where different birds would busily vie for position to take a quick drink after a hot day’s foraging. The star of the show was the spectacular tiny Diamond Firetail. This is one of Australia’s beautiful, arid-adapted finch species. It lives on the edge, making the most of the boom and bust climate when times are good.

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Zebra Finch

Possibly the most successful arid-adapted finch species in Australia, is the Zebra Finch. Found over much of the dry interior of the country, they can survive for extended periods on only dry seeds and have been observed drinking water of high salinity that other species could not tolerate. This was another first for me and, in this image, a male bird is being harassed by his sizeable brood for a meal of regurgitated seeds!

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Red-rumped Parrot

The final image of my selection is a male Red-rumped Parrot. The species is generally only found west of the Great Dividing Range (a north-south spine of mountains separating the greener coastal strip of eastern Australia from the drier interior) where they live a semi-nomadic existence taking advantage of green, seeding grasses and vegetation where available. To get a low-angle to throw the background out of focus, I had to lay down on angry-ant-infested ground! Worth the effort, I reckon!

All images were taken on Canon equipment, mainly the Canon 1DX full frame DSLR body, paired with the EF 600MM f4/L IS II lens and 1.4X and 2X teleconverters in some cases. I shoot exclusively in RAW format and process in Adobe Photoshop CS5 using a monitor calibrated by a Datacolor Spyder 3. Some images were handheld, others used a Gitzo carbon fibre tripod paired with an Arca Swiss Z1 bullhead and Wimberley mounting plates.


Copyright on all photos: Ross Coupland