Thanks for the responses… given the limited information available it’s not surprising that there is little convergence. Suggestions are:
2 x bubbles
2 x tortoises
1 x platypus
1 x snake
1 x heads of young grebes
The only one I can rule out is the last since (I didn’t say before) there were 3 eggs on the nest, so no young grebes around. If forced to guess I’d go for bubbles since I (and many others) have seen somewhat similar bubbles in similar circumstances. As mentioned though, they didn’t look like bubbles -- though I’m hard pressed to explain why. None have any little nostrils or eyes to look like tortoises, and the shapes are too symmetrical. With the advantage of slightly bigger version of the pic I also can’t see any shape that might support snakes or platypus, especially stationary.
From: Julian Robinson [
Sent: Tuesday, 19 February 2013 12:05
To: canberrabirds chatline
Subject: [canberrabirds] What might this be? (Slightly bird related)
On the smallest of Callum Brae’s dams was a nesting Australasian Grebe. As I was photographing it close to its nest, quite suddenly the 5 to 7 bumps shown in the photos appeared nearby. They/it didn’t appear like bubbles, seemed solid, all the same size and didn’t burst or disintegrate like bubbles. They appeared to be parts of one thing, like the Lock Ness monster. The Grebe turned to look at this thing and by 7 seconds later it/they disappeared, though I didn’t see in what manner.
Does anyone have any idea what it/they could be? The pale thing in the foreground is a leaf.
Julian
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Sequence below…
Photo 1 @ 0 secs (no blobs)
2 @ 1 second (blobs appear, all together, with wave-rings radiating outwards)
3 @ 2 seconds (bird turns to look at blobs)
4 @ 7 secs (blobs gone)
