I decided to ‘re-experience’
AUSTRALIA around the week
of Australia day. To see if I had become
an Ivory Tower Public servant??? Plus with 40 degrees temps predicted I wanted
to get out.
Monga: So on the morning of the
20th I left to experience dawn in the Monga rainforest. This turned
out to be a major error and after dodging and narrowly missing 5 kangaroos my nerves were
in shreds and I was shaking by the time I got to Monga. But the rainforest
quickly soothed the soul. I had picked a great morning and after dawn I had
pilot birds, a bassian thrush, black faced monarch, I think broad billed
scrubwrens and brown gerygones although I am not sure, a yellow robin seemed to
be more interested in me, than me in it, and of course lyrebirds. The one I
didn’t get was rufous fantail.
Beach: Stayed in Batehaven- it was
good to see little wattle birds and scaley breasted lorikeets. The coast was hot
at 31 degrees but not 40 degrees which it was in Canberra. At the beach, Mckenzies had huge
waves. A WBSE, gannets and terns. At low tide I saw 3 species of anemone
including the red anemone- which looks almost like jelly when closed up. I was
watching some anemones open and feed, for about 25 minutes. Some kids came over,
I think they thought I had died. There were also the odd green anemones and
strangely in a small pool about 20cm by 1m there were 150 small green anemones.
Also saw a nudibranch, for the
first time. It was stuck in a rockpool. It was tiny, only 1.5cm. it was white
with red spots on the face and a red funnely-type thing on its rump??? I bought
a seashores book so hope to brush up. It was good to see some chitons
aswell.
Lyons Rd:
Currowan
State Forest (near the Western distributor). Saw
another black faced monarch and a family of variegated fairy wrens. Olive
whistler, lyrebird.
Reedy Creek TSR: Goulburn Rd:
Echidna. A flock of choughs. Leucochrysum albicans and lemon beautyheads in
flower.
Boorowa: Australia day.
Dollarbirds. A family of wrens which had ‘a baby’ Horsfields bronze cuckoo which
was twice their size. It was contantly begging, following and pecking at the
wrens, who seemed more than a little frazzled. Two roosts of Flying foxes were
in town, , which seemed a strange place- I couldn’t see which species they were.
Benj
