Clouds and mouths

 This covers a few snaps of the current dampness. The first three were an interesting collection of dark, eventually rain-bearing, clouds on the evening of 15 June.

Somewhat later in the month the evening view from the lounge was rather colourful

A facebook post mentioned the heavy seas on 16 June so I took myself to Bastion Point.  The seas were indeed heavy, but were so large that (while I was there anyway) that they were breaking before hitting the breakwater.

Another facebook post mention that a new Mouth was forming to the East of the current one.  That is shown in this image from Bastion Point.  Perhaps there will again be a beach at Bastion by next Summer? 

This snap from the end of the Pumping Station Track shows the position of the old and new mouths.  I suspect that at present they are both quite shallow so would be a challenger for boaters.  Given that the Bastion Ramp is also dodgy I suspect the divers and Gabo workers/visitors will be having a tough time.

The greyness of the sky is also reflected in the rainfall records.  A little over halfway through the month we have already recorded 216mm of rain: more than 3 times the median rainfall for June .  This places 2024 as 6th, of 45, heaviest rainfall for June (to get to 5th place is possible, only requiring a further 14mm).  The heaviest June, in 1978, was 309mm with two very heavy spells.  A day by day comparison of falls in the two months is in this chart.  

It is notable that BoM stations to our North seem to have recorded modest falls (around 40mm) while  Wunderground sites to our West have much more: Tamboon has 260mm while the Marlo Fire Station has 206mm.  (The BoM station at Orbost seems to have some 'issues'.) 

Another sunset set.

It has been quite cool outside so a nice fire is very pleasant indoors!

Clouds and Lighting

 Some snaps from the deck.  The first two are from 21 May.

The next bunch are from 23rd, with a range of camera settings (and lenses - mainly 18 - 45 mm) used.

Trying with the 'backlight' setting.  Must try harder!

Very close to dark.

Houseboats heading out.

An attempt to catch the lit up houseboat!  Using the biggest lens at full zoom (400mm) needs more bracing than I gave it!

On 24 May the sunset was quite interesting, IMO especially for members of the Cloud Appreciation Society.

Low light and taken through double glazing, but does show an interesting cloud pattern.

Mallacoota snaps

 Having heard a report of Striated Heron at Coulls Inlet I took my self off there of 30 March.  I didn't find the Heron, but get a few images of an obliging Azure Kingfisher.

The next shot was from a good bit further away and used digital zoom as well as the full 400m.

Late in the day I thought the cloud visible from our front door offered the chance of a fancy sunset.  It didn't, but I think this is nice!

The next morning produced fog over the Lake.

And eventually a good sunrise (phone photo as we started out on our walk.

Wedgetails and Clouds

 A family of 3 Wedge-tailed Eagles overflew the house this afternoon with a stack of cumulus in the background.

Note the out of focus Welcome Swallow top left, as well as second Eagle bottom centre!

A few sky/cloud shots

 Some interesting cloudscapes/colours.  The first 2 are from the evening of 6 September and are a pleasant pastel effect.

Pastel was still evident the next morning.  As was the moon.

An interesting edge to the cloud on the morning of 8 September.

Rather chaotic jumble in the early evening of 8 September.

Unusual clouds

 As we sat in the lounge looking at the view, and enjoying a beverage, a very unusual set of clouds came over.  (As an aside I looked up Google to see if their is a collective noun for clouds: the one that resonated was 'bank' but the one I liked in this instance was 'souffle'.)

As part of the system rolled over us we got 2.4 mm of rain, getting the day's total to 4.6mm.  That likely means 2023 will be the second driest August since my records began.

On the last day of the month the evening clouds were more as expected but still interesting as there seemed to be several layers.