Why I hate computers!
The day dawned ....
...unpropitiously when I turned on my new
computer-for-travelling and it just sat there and whirred at me. This went on for some time and I was not
happy!
We gave up on that and went for a walk along the Riverside
Drive shared path. We paused briefly to check a dead bat (and I will take a punt on it being a Lesser Long-eared Bat, Nyctophilus geoffroyi)
found beside the door:
something had obviously had a munch at it also- no idea what. The path walk was as always very pleasant
despite the threat of rain (which stayed as a threat). In the bird department the surprise was a
large number of Hoary-headed Grebes in the Inlet. There was a wide range of fungi in the trees
beside the path
and a lot of the Pittosporum was in good fruit.
The Shire have been doing a lot of clearing along the way and
also putting in some extra picnic tables etc.
At least they recognise that tourism is what is providing jobs in the
area and offer some services, unlike the National Parks mob who just put up
officious signs and don't even staff an office here (see day 3 for more on this).
The Shire has also put up some spiffy signs about dogs: the poop-scoop
bit is optimistic judging by the amount of faecal matter on the path (and as
there are two breeds of dogs illustrated one can't even say it only applies to
German Shepherds)!
After our walk I put out some old apple to try to attract
Satin Bowerbirds but 'only' got a Little Wattlebird. (On a future occasion I looked closely at a
Little Wattlebird feeding and it licked the apple, rather than pecking lumps
out, as did the bowerbirds.) After a cup
of coffee (computer still not working) we took off for Bastion Point to see
what birds and flowers could be found.
Before we got down to the beach we were astonished by the amount of foam
around on the beach.
I tried to get
Tammie to leap into a drift of it, but she wouldn't oblige.
Several birds were added to the trip list with the highlights
being at least 15 White-fronted Chats feeding on the Samphire and about 100
Little Terns sitting on a sandbank
with a few Crested Terns to give a size
comparison. That got us to 3 Tern
species as a Caspian was also around. There were few flowering plants. I shall attempt to name these later!
A
pleasant walk although I got annoyed with myself for not using a backpack but
sticking things in my camera bag and then finding my raincoat wouldn't
accommodate it.
On getting home I managed to persuade my computer to come to
life so I am able to update this (and look at my photos). However I am copying everything on to a
pendrive to make sure it isn't lost if things get sticky again! (As an aside:
most things computing are made in developing countries as the cost – and
working conditions – of labour are much more favourable to employers. However the quality control is not good. This is a problem when many things rely on
computers working properly.)
Later in the afternoon I walked up the road enjoying other
gardens – they must have soil here as well as lotsa rain –
and tasking a few
bird photos. Rainbow Lorikeets ..
Then I noticed that Gabo
Island lighthouse was visible, both from the road and the deck back at the
house. In the latter case it is
necessary to get at the right point and look though a gap in the cypress, but
its there.
After dining I heard a thump from the deck and remembered
that I hadn't removed the apple from the bird feeder. Sure enough there was some Possum Magic (the
Amazing Vanishing Apple trick- now you see it; now you don't!!) happening.
To say the least this animal was not nervous
of humans.
Persuading it to move took a
smack on its bum, at which indignity it did a double gainer into the bush.
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