and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space
Once again it is my older son who is the brains behind this photo. He keeps a close eye on space weather and phoned me yesterday evening to get out there after dark. I thank him for the alert especially since he’s in Sydney for work, too far north to get a photo of his own.
The photo was taken from the car park overlooking the popular Port Fairy surfing spot known as the passage. For the nerds it was a Sony full frame camera with a 14mm prime lens at f/2, ISO 1600, 4 second exposure.
A causeway joins Griffith’s Island to the mainland. It’s about a 2.6km walk to get around the island. There is a well formed path around most of it but there is a little scrambling over rocks in one spot. Much of the interior is a Short-tailed Shearwater breeding colony. At this time of the year adults are coming and going under the cover of darkness. You see nothing of them during the day except for the occasional dead one, although you may be lucky and see a flock foraging not too far off the coast. There’s plenty to see around the edges.
It’s basalt, once again, that provides a backdrop for the Heron.
This little guy clambered up onto the causeway to Griffiths Island, Port Fairy. It’s a Swamp Wallaby. They are quite common on the island and sometimes come and go via the causeway. This is the first time that I have seen one choose to swim the Moyne River to get there. Kangaroos and Wallabies swim well as you can see in this Youtube clip …
You can see in the photo that the early morning sun is casting a long shadow. A few minutes later I was able to take advantage of that to get a back lit photo …
There is a little slice of paradise hidden away on the road between Warrnambool and Cobden in south west Victoria. It’s owned by the Trust for Nature, preserves some beautiful riparian forest and is home to the endangered Long-nosed Potoroo. It’s the Ralph Illidge Sanctuary. Admission is $2, no dogs and closed on days of total fire ban.
I’ve been giving it quite a lot of attention lately because a Black-faced Monarch turned up there in mid December and every twitcher in the shire has seen it. Except me. Until this morning. Although the previous time I was there another birdo did show me a very nice photo on the back of his camera.
The Monarch in question is a breeding migrant to the east coast of Oz, spending winters in New Guinea. A few come around the corner to the south coast in Gippsland (eastern Victoria). This one is the furthest west I’ve encountered one, and it does seem to be on its own. There is a price to be paid for being a pioneer.
The sanctuary is an excellent spot for forest birding well worth a visit any time. The Potoroo is nocturnal and elusive so don’t count on seeing one. The sanctuary website also mentions the Rufous Bristlebird. The last eBird record was is in 2015, the Great Ocean Road is a much better bet for this species.
The photos in this gallery were all taken in the sanctuary in the last month …
The Australian Hobby is found throughout Australia and also in islands to the north. It’s a bird eater that likes to hunt after dawn and at dusk. They’ve adapted quite well to urban life and have been reported swooping low over roof tops to surprise birds in back yards.
I came across this guy on a country road dismantling a Starling.
I have become a bit of a fan of dark backgrounds. At Braeside Park the other day found a few opportunities to frame a bird in the light against a background in shadow. That’s not to say I reject all other opportunities.
At one place I had the sun behind me, brightly lit water to my right and water in shade to my left. A Hoary-headed Grebe swam from the light into the shadow giving me the chance to shoot high key followed by low key. Which do you prefer? Let me know.
A happy and prosperous new year to everyone who deserves it, which is almost everyone after subtracting the despotic, criminal and corrupt.
January the first. A new calendar game. Go for quantity or quality? Early to bed last night up at four this morning. I decided on some forest birding and headed about 90 minutes drive east of Melbourne to Mount Worth State Park. Tall forest of Mountain Ash with Blackwood beneath and Tree Ferns in between. Epiphytic ferns on everything and enough fungi to poison your whole family. Beef Wellington anyone?
The first birds on the list were quintessentially Australian – King Parrot, Laughing Kookaburra and Australian Magpie. First native mammal was a Wombat running for its life. They run with rather more grace than you would expect from such a short legged stocky creature.
The list extended to just 21 bird species but included Lyrebird and Large-billed Scrubwren and it’s unlikely that I’ll see them again until late in the year.
For a nice introduction to the trails in the park click this <LINK> but be aware that the Giants Circuit is currently closed (cos Parks Vic, what can I say).
Yeah, the big smoke for Christmas and the new year. So last visit to Braeside Park for 2025. Some of the locals were prepared to pose …
More formally the Hooded Plover, Thinornis cucullatus, surpassed in cuteness only by the Giant Panda (and even then only if the Panda is in a playful mood). There are two populations. In south-eastern Australia they are entirely coastal. The Western Australian population enjoy the coast but also wander inland onto salt lakes. They like broad beaches backed by dunes where they nest on the ground above the high tide mark.
The population is declining, the IUCN lists them as near threatened. The main problem for the Hoodies is that they breed at the same time hordes of people descend on their beaches. The adults are able to look out for themselves but the youngsters are very vulnerable especially to dogs. Very few make it to maturity.
If you come across some of the many volunteers that endeavour to protect the hatchlings do spare them an encouraging word or two. Most will soon need counselling because their charges have come to grief.
In old colonial times there was a cheap cloth imported from China and sold in Oz as Nankeen. You could have any colour you wanted so long as you wanted a reddish brown. In time it became a handy descriptor of reddish brown and found its way into the name of two Ozzie birds, The Nankeen Kestrel and the Nankeen Night Heron. These names have survived the attempts of august committees to erase them and I hope they endure forever.
The Nankeen Kestrel is found throughout Australia and further afield in the Pacific. It is one of two Australian raptors that are really proficient at hovering, the other being the Black-shouldered Kite. I encountered this one on Griffiths Island.
bobmcgee 