More birds from Captain Stevenson's Point

 I have been going to the Point in a (so far) vain attempt to write down a White-fronted Tern before they all nick off back to NZ to breed.  That was helpful a couple of days ago with a small flock of Red Knots.

The Knots were also there today.  Of more help, especially in the Bird-a Day arena was the first Eastern Curlew of the season.  It is in this photo - check under the arch of driftwood.

The bill is long - way too long for a Whimbrel, dammit - but not so dramatic as that of a female Curlew.  So I think it is a male.

The quietness of the area was destroyed more than somewhat by 3 Caspian Terns which were constantly calling.  Given the ruckus and some stunt flying I have called this a courtship/display breeding event.  This was the start with the third bird descending on two which seemed to be good friends (but not, as far as I saw, anything more than that).

The next two images are flight shots - I don't get many of these so excuse me while I flaunt them!

Notice the open bill, allowing the screech to emanate!

The angle and speed of descent - especially the leading bird - led me to conclude that it was channelling its inner Stuka.

To  complete a pretty good morning I then spotted 2 Sooty Oystercatchers on the far side of the Inlet.   

Looking at the mouth it seemed that the surf was breaking not too far out, suggesting that the sandbar is moving in.  I suspect that without a good rain event it will soon close.  (Betka is already shut.)

Seasonal matters

 This will cover a fair range of topics noticed since we returned to Mallacoota.

The first shows a gathering of birds on a sandbank in the Inlet.  Most of them are Crested Terns but a few waders are also present.  The green arrows point to a few Bar-tailed Godwits, mainly to emphasise the smaller size of the Red Knots (orange arrows).

A clearer shot of the Knots.

I went for a ride to Stingray Point to check for Topknot Pigeons and any other fig munchers.  None present, but a lot of action in a flowering eucalypt. This is one of several Red Wattlebirds.

A Little Wattlebird moons a Laughing Kookaburra.

Across the District the Pittosporum is coming in to flower

As is Clematis aristata: in this case ascending a fig tree.

Some figs: I don't think they are quite ripe yet.

Pink eucalypt flowers.

I think these are also eucalypt flowers but they were well on to a private garden.

The following morning (15 September) was notable for the difference in temperatures across 2 BoM sites and my Weather Station.

This can be explained by wind at the airport coming off the cold mountains while at Gabo it's coming off the (relatively) warm sea.

The search for Topknot Pigeons continued on the 16th with a visit to the Radley Place fig tree.

The figs here also need a little more time to ripen, so no Pigeons, Figbirds or large Cuckoos.

An enormous succulent flower: my guess is that if fully erect it would be at least 3 m high.

I went down to the Inlet looking for a Lewin's Rail near the Boardwalk.  Not present, but a perched Azure Kingfisher was a good alternative,

Frances recalled that last year there had been an excellent floral display along the Narrows so we went t check that out.  It was pretty good, including this Clematis.

A few orchids, beginning with Caladenia catenata.

Not an orchid, but both members of the pea family - Hardenbergia violacea and Platylobium formosum.

Diuris pardina.

Pterostylis pedunculata (Maroonhood)

Another pea - Glycine clandestina.

The only Heron seen was a White-faced heron.

An interesting clump of fungi.

September minima

 When I looked at the overnight low temperature for 12 September I was surprised to also note how the daily average minimum moved around.  For the 12th the long term average minimum was 8.41C while the days either side were 7.41C and 7.19C.  Looking more widely at the series there were several groups of days showing similar movements.  

Looking at the data more closely, the variation is reflected in the standard deviation (SD) on the minimum daily temperature being quite high, relative to the average value on some days.  Usually in the series for September it is close to 25%  However on the 3rd the SD is 39% of the average and on the 13th the SD is 40% of the average.  So the range of probable minima is also quite wide.  I have shown these in a graph.

The outstanding days are the first with the actual minimum a tad below the 1 SD lower bound and the 9th where it was well above the upper bound.  In fact the minimum for the 9th was 2.7 SD above the average for the day: such a value would be expected 3 times in a thousand.

Lennies and other clouds

 In the twilight of 7 September the clouds were interesting looking towards Genoa.  I shall try to put names to the various formations later, but both images include some lenticular (ie lens like) items.  The author of the Cloud Spotters Handbook calls these "lennies".

Heath'n'Beach

 On the 3rd of September we decided that it was a while since we had been to the Heathland so remedied that situation.  It was a lovely walk - with the possible exception of the stretch along the beach on soft sand with a lazy wind (one that can't be bothered going round, but cuts straight through you).  Here is the route.

The were a lot of peas in the wooded area. The "bacon and egg" ones all seemed to be Dillwynnia sericea.

This was a particularly striking assemblage of flowers.  The main ones are Acacia longifolia; Hardenbergia violacea, and Acacia myrtifolia.

Allocasuarina paludosa in the heath is beginning to come back strongly.  Most of the bi=ushes seemed to be well in flower.

Stackhousia monogyna.

A particularly vigorous and colourful Hakea decurrens.

The first Burchardia umbellata (Milkmaids(??))of the season.  When we first came to Mallacoota the airstrip was covered in these.

The heathland produced a single orchid.  Diuris chryseopsis (Golden Moth), which we rarely find in this area.

Melaleuca armillaris

A pair if Hooded Plovers were near the estuary, but on the road side of the River rather than the area they usually nest.  The nesting area has built up some sand after a big storm washed it all away, but it looks very low and flat still.  

Two Caspian Terns were on a sandbar in the River and one stayed for a snap.

The second one flew back later,

Leptospermum laevigatum (I think - Coast Tea-tree seems appropriate!)

A good haul of Greenhoods (Pterostylis curta).

The spider orchids have a while to go before flowering.

A single Diuris pardina on the Chip Track.

An attractive looking sedge.  Life is too short to try to ID them below the family (Cyperaceae) level!

There is a lot of Comesperma ericinum coming in to flower, especially in the Heath.  This specimen seemed to be the most advanced.

Down the Creek and up the Gorge

 This post covers a couple of recent outings.  The first was to the Captains Creek Fire Trail.  Here is our route.

One of my objectives was to see if I could add any Acacia species to the post for Wattle Day.  While A. terminalis has finished flowering there were some attractive seed pods.

Taking a good look at this specimen of A. ulicifolia (gorse-leaved wattle) caused me to rethink an identification from the previous day.  There was a lot of this species around on today's track.

This hill - on the route map, it is where the track turns away from the Genoa Rd after about 500m - really is unpleasantly steep.  However the work done by Parks has really sorted out the erosion gullies that were there after the fire.

Tetratheca sp.

From looking at Joy's book - and confirmed by the iNaturalist AI - this is Pomaderris intermedia.  I have put the following images on to iNaturalist.

I did add a note that I didn't have an image of the root system, fully expecting some taxonomist to have made the shape of the roots as THE defining feature.  I don't know why it is but this genus seems to bring out the more anal-retentive attributes of taxonomy: possibly because for 50 weeks of the year they are the most boring looking plants known to science.

We found a couple of species of beans.  This is Platylobium formosum.

INaturalist rated this as Pultenaea sp.  Joy's book shows 2 species in this genus of which I thought P. hispidula was the better match.  The fuzziness is due to poor focusing not hairiness!

A specimen of Ricinocarpos pinifolius (Wedding Bush) had a very few flowers.

Common Bronzewings posed nicely.

Regrowth in a burnt stump.

Bull ant at work.

I tried to get a photo of the only orchids we saw (2 x Brown Beaks at the gate!) but the result was too  fuzzy to waste download on.  I think we were too early for this site.

On 1 September we celebrated Spring by going to Wangarabell.  We were looking for Turquoise Parrots, Diamond Firetails and Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters.  Found none of them.  We started looking before the track to the Gorge and walked down the track to the Gauging Station (double arrows).

The Kennedia rubicunda was in fine flower beside the road.

The view up the Gorge was impressive  ...

... as was the view over the rocks downstream.

We stopped for lunch near Big Flat Creek (adjusted on one sign by painting over the bottom of the B to make Pig Flat Creek).  I had an interesting chat with a local who told me that he had 9 Emus on his place (none visible today) and could nearly always see two Turquoise Parrots as he drove to Mallacoota. (still none visible today).