Lotsa photos: many of Animals without legs

 This is mainly about a trip we took to Merimbula, via Green Cape.  I shall begin by commenting on the title: I don't consider 'flippers' to be legs, so we begin early in the day with a few snaps of a seal swimming beside the Broome St Boardwalk.

Check the whiskers.

At the end of the Boardwalk I heard the call of an Australasian Figbird and with a little help from Photoshop Express, here is the male. The female was nearby, but I have too many photos in this post anyway.

So we headed off from home, with our first destination the Disaster Bay Lookout.  This first image is a reverse view of photos I took a few days ago on a trip to Nadgee.  It shows how the Bay Cliff could be considered a sea stack, if the encroaching sand was removed.

The pattern left by waves washing on the beach was intriguing,

Moving on to Pulpit Rock we were greeted by a large circle f white water, signalling that a cetacean (again flippers not legs), had just rejoined the water after a breach.  That didn't happen again but I did get a couple of snaps of parts of whales.

The view looking North.

We had hoped the Shearwater migration might have started but not so. The only ocean bird seen here was a solitary Gannet - by this time about 400 metres away.

I also snapped this Fairywren running around: it is fully off the ground and leaning into a curved path.

Rock platform with descending Frances!

The next photos were taken by Frances as went into the rock platform while I  continued to look for Cetaceans.  Looking back to the steps:

The Southern Wall.

An insertion in the wall.  No idea what it might be.

When the insertions fall out they leave these holes behind.

This shows the complexity of the rock here and a second type of insertion.

The underside of part of the wall.

When the geologising was done we headed off for a walk in the Heath.  Many New Holland Honeyeaters were squabbling in the bushes.

Grevillea lanigera 

Hakea decurrens showing fresh fruit (blue arrow); ripe but still green, fruit (orange arrow; and old dry fruit(red arrows).

Very old fruit and flower!

Euphrasia collina collina: Flora of Victoria notes 8 subspecies occur in Victoria with overlapping ranges.

According to the iNaturalist AI this daisy is Arctotis acaulis.  That has a common name of African Flat Daisy so a BIG HINT that it is not native here!  An expert has identified it as Argentipallium obtusifolium: part of the split of Helichrysum some years ago.

Definitely Bossiaea ensata: one of the few species I am certain of!

We ten moved to the Lighthouse area where a Nankeen Kestrel was taking 5.  The head looks grey, making this a male.

A good sized swell running and washing over the rocks.

Not kelp, but seal fins sticking out of the water

In the larger group I think there were at least 12 seals lounging around in the waves.

A view North from the Lighthouse.

While looking at the seals a young woman called out to us that there was a big Brown Snake between us and the lighthouse.  Frances soon spotted it.  A fine specimen: my guess is about 1.8m long and well muscled.  

It eventually took itself back into the veg so we left the area.  About 10m further up the track there was another of similar dimension.

At Pambula the first business was acquiring lunch at Wild Rye.  A 9.5 rated steak and kidney pie for me.  Despite closing the Cann River Cafe (and ceasing deliveries to Mallacoota) the Pambula operation will continue.  Apparently the problem is getting accommodation for staff.  Then to the small wetland to eat the pie and look for the (now resident) Magpie Geese.