Birds of 14 January

 What it says on the packet!  We begin with my usual Sunday drive around the airstrip.  Very quiet to begin with, but then added (among other species) Spotted Harrier (not photographed), Black-shouldered Kite ...

and Nankeen Kestrel (in this case a female).

In the evening Frances commented on the antics of New Holland Honeyeaters in our garden which got my camera out again.

They really like Red Hot Pokers.

They visit Cannas as well but tend not to hang around.

A Little Wattlebird posed well.

The enemy: a Swamp Rat - also known as Tunneling Garden Destroyer

Sundries

 I would never argue about Koala Poop with Janine Duffy.  Here is a sample she identified on the Narrows Walk on 4 December.  Looks a bit like a pellet of dynamic lifter in shape and when broken open has a scent of eucalyptus (if your sense of smell is better than mine).  Also quite light in colour.

This is Brush-tail Possum crap.  The key feature is that it compressed from side to side and top to bottom and often slightly bent.  The darker colour is also typical,

That enabled me to realise that what we saw on Angophora Drive (under a tree of that species) a couple of days earlier was Koala scats rather than Possum.  I have put a red dot by each pellet to make them stand out.  Obviously, the bear was not constipated!

Moving on, the tide was low on 5 December (and will continue as such for the next 2 days).  Much sand exposed at the bottom of the ramp.  Also a distinct aroma of decaying Kelp.

This also meant much exposed rock both sides of the breakwater.  This is the area between the breakwater and the Point.

The wildlife was disappointing both in quantity and diversity.  Very few crabs or seastars, no Tritons, abalone or elephant limpets.  Unlike this time last year we found no Sea-hares and only a few strings of their eggs.

Seaweed was in greater profusion including quite a few specimens of this colourful species (which reminded me of ear muffs).

I have gone on record as saying these rocks are the top spot for Eastern Reef Egret and today did not disappoint.

Seen from my desk

 Earlyish in the morning of 7 September there were some roos engaging in a touch of the good old ultraviolence on the paddock about 300m away.  Always amusing, in an eye-watering way, to watch.  What made this particularly interesting was the 3rd Party joining in.  

Shortly after the last photo was taken the one on the left grabbed the one in the middle and clogged it under the tail.  Obviously, sinking the slipper into the umpire  doesn't get one reported in this game.

There was then an avian ruckus as the Little Corella flock left Karbeethong.  Rather than coming back towards the town centre they flew to a pine tree and Bucklands and made it look like a Stackhousia mongyna!

Following a suggestion on Facebook I counted them by putting a dot on each bird.  To make it simple I changed colours each 20 birds.

In fact I counted three times getting 114, 116 and (in the pictured example) 115 birds!

Scene(s) from the lounge

 It was all happening to the West on the afternoon of 12 June.  The first item scene was a pair of kangaroos getting in some boxing practice.

Perhaps more like Mixed Martial Arts?  That tactic always makes me wince!

The final step seemed more like tag-team wrestling.  One of the pairs seemed to be a catchweight match, although the midget is on flat feet and his (I'm assuming females don't play these rough games) opponent is on his toes.

Sunset had a bit of authority.

Then the moon and Venus appeared (and then disappeared behind the clouds PDQ).

Sundry Wildlife

 Pretty much just a set of wildlife photographs.

We often have Silver Gulls fly over but this was the first time they have taken a snack.

A walk along the Casuarina Walk showed a good lot of flowers and fruit.  Olearia myrsinoides, showing the shape of the leaves rather well..

Fruit of Dianella caerulea.

Dipodium rosea

In the evening at least 3 Red-necked Wallabies were grazing over the fence.

Using my flash, with the animal at least 15m away, revealed its inner demonic nature.

The next morning (21 December) I had driven in to the Bakery and on return saw someone parked on the path on Lakeside drive looking into a tree.  Excellent warning of a koala presence!  With bonus joey!!!

That was a phone snap so I went back with a better camera and grand-daughters to get another!

The joey's grip seemed a bit tenuous but it held on well as Mum shinned up the tree.  I left them in peace and when we walked past 40 minutes later she had gone elsewhere.

Battles actual and potential (warning: gruesome start)

 The first battle is really the aftermath as one of the combatants had clearly lost.

The next two show a likely winner (unless it picks on a Kookaburra). A rather small specimen - perhaps 30cm long.

A potential loser - especially if it is injudicious in choosing the gap in the wall to enter.

Wanderings on ACT election day

 As we had voted by post (and couldn't get back to Canberra if we wanted to vote in person) I was free to do other things on the 17th of October.

I began by going to Stingray Point to get a few birds for the eBird October Big Day.  A good start was a pair of Musk Lorikeets (part of a group of 6) making nice.

Then loud cursing by a Little Wattlebird (green arrow) let me find the Channel-billed Cuckoo (red arrow).

A close-up of the Cuckoo!

Later in the day I went to Captain Stevenson's Point where the Little Corella flock were finding things to dig up.  I counted 74 visible in the area.

I couldn't quite work out what they are eating.  Possibly Kikuyu Grass rhyzomes?    Their beaks were well splattered with mud giving a strange piebald effect.

Late in the afternoon we went to Bastion Point to see what was in the rock pools.  Not a great deal of diversity but Sea Hares (Aplysia juliana) were present in good numbers and range of sizes.

In this image I can count 9 Sea Hares- a fairly typical density across all the rock pools.

There are at least 3 in this pile, which was likened to an Echidna train!

A strange organism living under a rock. iNaturalist has been consulted.  They have come good!  It is an egg-mass of Aplysia sp and as there are heaps of them around I suggest it is A. juliana.

A patch of empty barnacle shells made an interesting pattern. I'm not sure if this emptiness means the inhabitants had moved out due to getting too big or is something else had acquired skills in barnacle emptying.  Apparently once barnacles become adult and enter their shell they don't move, so something has come along and removed the crustacean from within.  Snails are a common suspect.

A pair of Eastern Grey Kangaroos were having a good tussle in a paddock visible from my window.

I think they were just practising.  The others in the background didn't seem at all interested in, nor alarmed by, the stoush