Waders

The following is a video taken of some of the waders to be found at one of the sites we count for the Qld. Wader Study Group. As the numbers appeared to be on the decline of late, we decided to conduct a count by kayak instead of our usual approach to this site overland.

Our fears of a decline were alleviated, as the numbers on this day as on an earlier occasion using this approach corresponded well with past figures for this site on our data base.
In particular, small wader species were much more obvious. As you can see in the video there is a lot of water and land to cover and plenty of hiding places with in addition some very fast flying to contend with!

Outing to Tin Can & Rainbow

Last Tuesday we were up a 4am for a half hour drive to Tin Can Bay to count waders. After meeting up with a friend we launched our kayaks and set out for a relaxing paddle through the mangroves to their roosting sites.

Tin Can Bay

It was that early even this Seagull could not help yawning

Fish were easy to see in the crystal clear water of Tin Can Bay

After the count, we drove on to Rainbow Beach, so named because of the Rainbow Coloured Sand Cliffs, then up the beach to Double Island.

Coloured Sands of Rainbow Beach

Gentle waves on Rainbow Beach

We crossed the peninsula then travelled back along the Freshwater Track which is about 13km long.It normally takes about 1hr to travel this rough 4wd track, but it took us a lot longer as our son had to remove the scrape plate off his 4wd as it had been damaged and come loose part way through the track.

We stopped off to take a short walk to Freshwater Lake, indicated as "currently dry"

Along the way we came across some Scribbly Gums.

If we only knew we could have taken a shorter walk instead of the 1.3km.

Some people if they saw a sign saying lake "currently dry" would not walk in to see it.

Freshwater Lake has been dry for many years, and though not full, it was good to see some water in it.

Lunch was at Bymien Picnic Area where the Christmas Orchids were in full flower, then on to the Great Sandy National Park to look for Ground Parrots and wait until dusk for them to call. As we were driving down one of the tracks a Ground Parrot flew up, and later as we were walking another flew across. Their calls were not as numerous as we remembered in years past, with an estimate of only six calling on this occasion. It was nice to know they are still there after all this time.

The sand is always white at Teewah Creek, contrasting with the tanin coloured water. A nice spot to end a long day out. Thanks to family and friends for sharing the day with us.

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Christmas Orchid Seed Pod. November 2008

Christmas Orchid. November 2008

Christmas Orchid. December 2008

Red Christmas Bell. 2007

Yellow Christmas Bell. 2007
Not many Christmas Bells out this year, Last year there were lots of them out everywhere.

Bird Count

Here is our bird list for the Solstice Bird Count.

Australian White Ibis, Spotted Turtle-Dove, Crested Pigeon, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, White-throated Needletail, Laughing Kookaburra, Noisy Friarbird, Little Friarbird, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Magpie-lark, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong,Torresian Crow, House Sparrow and Double-barred Finch.
Not a lot of birds due to the heavy overcast, cool and sometimes raining conditions.

Australian White Ibis

Torresian Crow

Unexpected Visitor

This turtle was found in our next door neighbours' yard and is very lucky to be alive, as he had been driving in and out a couple of times, and then mowing his lawn. He nearly hit it with the mower, and asked if we had lost a pet! We said no so we wet it as it was very dry.