A bit choppy at Bastion Point

Following a post by a commercial fisherperson about the state of the sea I went down to Bastion Point to see how things were going mid-morning.  Rather lumpily is a summary.

These taken from land end of the breakwater!

Looking out past the tip of the Point.  The sea was very confused out that way, I suspect bouncing around the various rocky reefs out that way.

Not much around in  the way of birds.  This Eastern Reef Egret was inside the breakwater when I took this ...

 .... but then flew over the breakwater to patrol the beach (OK, gravel bank) and kelp on that side.

Ieri, oggi e domani

 I was thinking what to call a post about yesterday and today when I recalled an Italian film from the 1960s called (in Italian) "Yesterday, today and tomorrow".  Directed by Vittorio de Sica, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni: what's not to like about that?  I'm not sure about 'tomorrow' but here is some stuff about yesterday and today (6 May 2023).

I went hunting for the Spangled Drongos seen in Karbeethong.  That was a fail, but I did like this accumulation of waterbirds on a jetty.

Towards Bucklands 2 Little Pied Cormorants posed.

A beetle - probably a species of Soldier Beetle - landed on my windscreen.  Possibly the most unusual element of this is how clean is the windscreen!

Cuteness doggified!  Gipsy says hello!

A series of photos of the sunset on 5 May.  I expected it to get really colourful but that didn't happen.  Enjoy the shapes of the cirrus.

And some silhouetted trees!

Early on the 6th the Mallacoota Institute of Bloke Studies (Aquatic Division) gathered for a bream fishing competition.

The Terrestrial Division of MIBS was not to be outdone and gathered behind Commercial Rd.  Formal attire was required (courtesy of the official outfitters ALDI).  

I did comment in another place about the gender balance of this gathering but was then advised that - what was described by my adviser, Shanna, as - "chicks" were in large numbers at the far end of this symposium.  Apparently they were scoffing scones and freedom frogs (??) as well as loading trailers.

A suspiciously clean ute.

Here is my share!  I think we now have enough for the coming Winter.

Sunday (domani e domenica 😁) was revolting.  Barely went outside all day!

Some bird snaps

 I took these photos mainly because I could!  However why not share them?

Eastern Yellow Robin

Common Bronzewing

Red-browed Finches

Azure Kingfisher

Striated Heron

Mixed fishing flock: Pelicans, Gulls and little Cormorants

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo - close up

Hoary-headed Grebes have in past years been seen in Coulls Inlet in Winter.  This year they have turned up much earlier.  The few white strands on the head are a hint, as is the dark cap coming below the eye.

Restless Flycatcher

The quality of my new camera.  Here is a photo of a sandbar about 250m away.

Here is a cropped image from the above showing Crested Terns, a Silver Gull and a Masked Lapwing.

April Weather Report

 Possibly reports of La Nina's demise were premature?  We have had a wet month with temperatures a little on the cool side.  Perhaps this is just another example of East Gippsland marching to its own beat for weather (as well as possibly other things)?

This report may be brief as I have a lot of things to do in early May!

Rain

We ended the month with 135.6mm.  This is 180% of the median for the month, and pushes the total for the year to date up to 118% of the median for the period.  The chart shows it be below the dramatic total for 2022 but well above the median.

My prorata estimate of the annual total has received a couple of nice boosts. (Note that this starts on January 18 as a fall earlier in the month makes a series starting on January 1 look daft.)

Temperatures

The anomaly for April ended at -0.36C so somewhat cool.  As usual the anomaly started off quite extreme varied widely but settled down, slowly rising to the end of the month.

The daily temperature extremes varied considerably, in contrast to the gradual downward trend shown by the long term series.  

Minimum Temperatures

The average (ie mean) minimum temperature for the month was 11.6C compared to the long term (31 year) mean of 11.8C.  A chart of monthly mean minima for the 5 years we have been in Mallacoota shows that 2023 is shaping up as a cool year.

I define a cold day as one in which the minimum and maximum are significantly below the long term average for the month.  We had 2 such days (9th and 10th): the maximum on the 8th was also sub-par but the minimum was warm, thus preventing three consecutive cold days which would meet my criteria for a Cold Snap.

Maximum Temperatures

The average (ie mean) maximum temperature for the month was 20.9C compared to the long term (31 year) mean of 21.4C.  A chart of monthly mean minima for the 5 years we have been in Mallacoota also shows that, after a warm February, 2023 is shaping up as a cool year.

A Hot Day is one in which both minimum and maximum are significantly above the long term average for the month.  In April there were 2 such days but widely separated: 4th and 27th.  We had no runs of consecutive Hot Days so no Heat Waves!

Humidity

For both standard times the relative humidity was above the 5 year average, but below the values for 2022 (see the comment about rainfall for 2022).  

As usual the daily readings are very variable.  Note that several days had an afternoon reading above that for the morning reading.

Wind

The average daily wind run at 86.77 km was below the average for April.  The 2 longest daily runs, both close to 190 km are 15th and 16th longest for April (out of 123 days with records).

 

Friarbirds in Mallacoota

 This morning I heard a Noisy Friarbird calling from some flowering gums in Lions Park, in the very centre of Mallacoota.  I thought that was the first I had heard here, but I had recorded one from Karbeethong - in 2017!  Whatever: the species isn't common here, with 32 eBird records (compared to 2553 records for Little Wattlebirds and 3319 records for Red Wattlebirds). Here are a few interesting charts.

The first shows the localities from which they have been reported. I can't make any generalisations from that!

The second shows the number of observations by year with a smoothing line. Obviously there are many years with no observations. My memory (regrettably not like a steel trap these days) is that 2018 was a year with a massive bat camp due to a heavy bloom of eucalypts. I suspect there isn't coincidence at work here.

The final chart shows the number of observations by month. I have used a year ended June to show the central tendency around Summer. Not surprising for a nectivorous bird.