Posts

Williamstown

Image
 We went to Williamstown this morning mainly hunting Great Crested Grebes, being promised lots of them by our friend Elke.  They delivered for her, and us!  But first a map of our route at Jawbone, and some other species. There were lots of Pied Cormorants perched on rocks etc. 3 Male Blue-billed Ducks were nice to see. So were some Pied Stilts and Royal Spoonbills. We saw one Great Crested Grebe pretty much as soon as we looked at the liquid.  Then another 11 as we crossed a small bridge on to a wee island.  (I have missed one from this snap.) A couple of portraits. Overall I wrote down 35 species here.   We then moved on to Point Gellibrand where a few more birds were seen.  More Pied Cormorants and lots of Crested Terns were the feature species. This is the Ball Tower at Point Gellibrand.  The history of this site i s extremely intersting and we must make sure we are there when the ball drops! Our final call was at the very pleasant Williamstown Botanic Gardens ,  These palms are
Post a Comment
Read more

Mainly Cape Bridgewater

Image
The main business today was visiting Cape Bridgewater, the other corner  (from Cape Nelson) of the Portland Peninsula.  Our particular objective was the Petrified Forest.  It was interesting that Google Maps seemed to place the Cape several kilometres up the coast from its actual location but we solved this by using the 'forest' as the destination and took the lower of the two routes. Unlike Cape Nelson there is a small settlement at a pleasant beach near the Cape.  However we ignored that and went on a few kilometres to the 'forest'.  It acquired the name through a theory that the columns of sandstone were tree trunks that had be inundated by sand dunes.  The official view now is that the columns are simply a result of water erosion. Of course a wind turbine gets in the image. Some mini-trunks. As with most places in this situation the area on the clifftop is well sand (and salt) blasted so the vegetation is minimal. We came back by the 'upper' route to check o
Post a Comment
Read more

Cape Nelson, the Port and Gannets

Image
Our morning walk started up the street to the Botanic Gardens.  As we entered we noticed this sign, which was a tad surprising in the middle of the town!   Even more surprising was a second copy beside this canal on the edge of the gardens.  We were later told by the Gannet Guide that this is where Sammy often hangs out, showing great agility as he munches salmon that have also swum up the canal.  He has been coming annually for about 3 years: the seal which got publicity earlier in the year was Neal the Seal in Tasmania. The big news of the day was that as we emerged from the Gardens, Frances spotted a Rufous Bristlebird.  I was hoping for that even more than the Cape Gannet, as the Bristlebird was a lifer: my first for 2024!   After breakfast we headed off towards Cape Nelson with scenery and walking in mind.  No rain was forecast and none was showing on the radar.  This was not Scotch mist on the windscreen! When the deluge stopped we saw a burnt out turbine. An  ABC report  include
Post a Comment
Read more