Two crossings of the Molonglo

This outing had two purposes:

  • To try to come up with a more exciting Bird of the Day than would be found in our garden; and
  • To check how the roads and farmland had coped with last weekend's rain.
I'll deal with the second bit first.  The roads were all in good nick, with a little evidence of some remedial grading having happened on the stretch South from Hoskinstown, but nothing at all dramatic.  The tide line on the Molonglo Crossing on Briars Sharrow Rd suggested that it was a pretty wide watercourse at some stage, probably well over a meter deep on the crossing.  As I noted in my post on the storm it didn't seem to do much damage in this area.

There was a fair bit of water around in the paddocks.  I will note that the temperature at home had been -3oC overnight, and probably a good bit colder on the Plain, so even though it was up to +7oC by the time I got down there (about 10am) this puddle was still frozen. I tried to get a snap of a Magpie Lark walking around on the ice but it nicked off.
 A larger puddle in the middle of a normally dry paddock..
This is the Foxlow Lagoon.  It was drying out with a ring of mud, perhaps 10m wide , around the outside.  Not any more.
There have been a lot of birds on the Lagoon recently but "Not any more".   1 White-faced Heron, a couple of Cormorants, perhaps 10 Coots and 2 Musk Ducks were all I could pick up from the road.

There was a big flock (perhaps 200) of Starlings feeding in the paddock, to complement this smaller flock seen closer on the Plain.
 Also on the Plain a squadron of 16 Little Ravens were circling one of the puddles.  I assume they were finding dead grasshoppers and such like to feed on.
 Despite the low temperatures it was nicely sunny.  This mob of 'roos seemed to think it pleasant enough to stack a few zeds on a paddock.  (There are 50 in the image - about half the mob - so it is fairly hogh stocking rate for a 3Ha paddock!)
The second crossing of the Molonglo was the Foxlow Bridge where there was a non-neglible flow in the River but nothing at all dramatic.

Although it wasn't an intention on the trip, as I drove back along Captains Flat Road I noticed that St. Thomas Church appeared to be in business, and I knew there was a War Memorial in there.   I bowled in and after an interesting conversation (about foxes mainly) with two neighbours who are wardens of the Church, I was able to view and photograph the Memorial before the Vicar arrived to start the service,

So that's one more tick to the towns project!

What about the first objective I hear you say!  We have a negative on that I'm afraid.  My best bird was a Masked Lapwing, which while I don't often get them at home are common on our morning dog walks.  Life is getting tough.

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