The House(s) of Fran_mart

The day started with a nice sunrise.  Not much cloud around but the silhouetted hills of Nadgee were attractive.  A few bits and bobs of cloud were over Gabo Island.  Looking back and up a Koala was sitting - IMHO precariously - in the gum tree.  The use of the hind leg for scratching rather than hanging on was not conducive to staying in the tree. On the dog walk in to town we found two Azure Kingfishers in various bits of Coulls Inlet. Our middle walk was the Casuarina Walk.  There seemed to be lots of twittery birds around, but mainly staying hidden in the foliage or the understorey.  Very few flowers, except Epacris, and those we did find didn't photograph at all well,  This meant we spent a fair bit of time looking at the impressively tall trees. I can't get excited about photos of tall trees.  Somehow it never gets across the size and magnificence of them.  This tree decided to help by bringing itself a little lower. ...

The title of this post, while boring, is accurate.  There wasn't much to photograph on the 28th so I didn't take many snaps and thus have't got a great deal to show you.  So this will combine that day and the 29th. The clouds before sunrise were quite interesting, as was the development of their colour between 07:12 ...  ... and 07:15. After the long walk to town we did the coastal walk from Betka Beach.  We did it in reverse to our usual path as I particularly wanted to check on some fungi we saw last visit which looked very similar to some luminous items blogged by Carol Probets .  Alas, in the intervening several weeks they have vanished.  There were a few seabirds around including this group with 3 species of Cormorant in one shot. The coast here is especially spiffy with moderately high cliffs and sandy beaches. Unfortunately on this day enjoyment of the scenery was marred by the very loud crap music coming from this boat.  Initially...

So we had a busy Friday in Queanbeyan and headed off down the road.  As we passed Michelago the Tinderry range looked excellent: to my mind they have still not fully recovered from the fires that hit them in 2009 (7 years ago).  The drive down was uneventful.  I don't recall a single example of pelicanish driving!  After a rumble along Imlay Rd and a touch of the Princes Highway we crossed into Victoria and were immediately greeted by a Superb Lyrebird scurrying up a roadside bank.  Getting close to our destination and another Lyrebird was scratching in the dirt at the side of Karbeethong Rd! Keeping in touch with Australian icons a Koala was in residence in the gum tree next door. On our last visit a large frog was in the bog.   As a complete change this time a former Feathertail Glider was dead on the carpet in the study.  Poor little blighter.  This is why they are called feathertails. The next morning, as is so often the case ...

That is a pretty bland title, but it is truth in advertising!  These are a few photos taken recently which appeal to me or seem interesting. I think this first is a slime mould not evidence of a very large bird having an extreme case of the trots.  The cracked appearance suggests the mould is not well. The next snaps are of cobwebs in the fog.  The first lot are on our neighbour's fancy gate and was taken with my phone while on the morning dog walk. Having got that one, I went out with my camera about 40 minutes later. While the fog had lifted somewhat, reducing the intensity of the webs, the better optics let me get a few pleasant shots. I am still 'live'with Bird-a-Day but in the "Not waving, drowning"stage.  So went for a drive round the Plain to see what I could find.  Nothing of great assistance to that project but a juvenile Brown Falcon surveying the paddocks from a hawthorn bush was good to see. As were a pair of Gang-gangs munchin...