The Hunt for Red (near) October

At some point when I was doing a fair bit of travelling the in flight entertainment often featured a movie called "The Hunt for Red October".   Based on a Tom Clancy novel, so no more need be said.  Its name sprang to my mind today (getting close to October) as I searched for small parrots with red on their faces.   

The reason for this was to assist a friend who will be swinging through tomorrow and wishes to photograph Little Lorikeets.  I do see them around occasionally but usually travelling at Warp Factor 9 from one clump of dense foliage to another clump of dense foliage.  Today was totally unsuccessful in that regard.  My strategy was to find a noisy blossoming tree and examine all the noise makers.  They all turned out to be Rainbow Lorikeets.  But I have marked the position of the three 'best' trees on this snip from GE.

I swung down Boundary Lane to look for the Emu but he did not show himself.  I had recently noticed a Masked Lapwing sitting in a lawn and wondered if they had  raised chicks.  Obviously they had (and it was very good to see this sign erected by the householder.

The 4 chicks, and one parent, were across the road.  I could only fit 2 chicks in the photo.

Moving on to Rasmus St I finally got a look at a Fan-tailed Cuckoo!

Both images show the key field mark of a yellow eye-ring.  (If that is missing it may be a Brush Cuckoo, so wait for a call.)

I ended up at Bastion Point where the wind was sending nice streamers of spray off the top of the surf.  I saw some folk heading out fishing in this mess: good luck to them!

BUT WAIT -- THERE'S MORE!

Not a set of steak knives, but a few pix from a walk along the Casuarina Track in the afternoon.  The first collection is a "cottage garden" of Stackhiusia monogyna and Glossodia major.

A collection of Caladenia sp.  As has been the case recently the computer is making them look much bluer than in life (or in the camera).

This next image is an Iris, called by some the "Butterfly Flag" but Flora of Victoria go for "White Iris"  (Diplarrena moraea).  Whatever: it is a beautiful flower.

Today's example of bushfire art.  The burl on the RHS reminds me very much of some of the carvings on Thai temples.