Its gunna be hotter ..

On a Summer trip to Batlow everywhere we went we heard "Its gunna be hotter in Wagga."   We hope its gunna be hotter in Mallacoota than Carwoola.  At present it seems to be: its 4oC outside now at 'coota and the BoM is offering -4oC at Canberra Airport.  A member of the Carwoola Facebook Group - whose property overlooks the Plain - posted that it got down to -4.8oC.   (Weather Underground has a couple of sites in Carwoola showing +1.8oC and -1oC at about 0630, reflecting different positions on hillsides!)

Mallacoota got a mention on the ABC TV News on the evening of the 22nd as getting to 16oC which was the warmest on the coast.  It was certainly a very pleasant day with - very unusually - no wind later in the day.  The sky was very clear as the sun rose.
That photo is interesting as the peak colour is not in fact where the sun rises, which is right on the LH edge of the image.  I must give some thought to that.

As we set off on the dog walk, with small dog right in the lead, Frances noticed a furry lump in one of the eucalypts halfway down the mountain that is Karbeethong avenue.
After a night of munching eucalypt leaves it must be very nice to curl up in the sunrise and snooze the day away. 
 Apart from a slight adjustment of the angle the same position was maintained all day.  This contrasts with occupation of the trees next to the house where they seem to shift around quite a bit during the day.

The bird highlight of the walk was a Restless Flycatcher at the point where Lakeside Drive gets to the houses that front the road.

Our second walk of the day was to Tip Beach.  The first lot of excitement was 17 Australian Gannets fishing a hundred or so metres offshore.  As we walked on, another 16 flew in to join them, and I saw a further 10 around the corner.  A very good crop of the species.
We went to this beach a Frances wished to investigate the shells washed up there and the rock pools.  A highlight of the pools was the sea anemones.  I suspect it is just serendipity that this one is covered in broken bits of shell.
 It is certainly luck that this one caught a reflection of the photographer.
A sample of the pile of shells on the corner of Bastion Point.
 Here is a typically crowded beach, looking towards Bastion Point. 
 Looking out to sea I spotted 6 Pacific Gulls sitting on the water a few hundred metres of shore.  These were the first I have seen at Mallacoota.  Later in the afternoon we went to Captain Stevenson's Lookout and 2 juvenile PGs flew past: they looked huge and initially stirred thoughts of raptor.  Here is one perched in the middle of the Inlet.
Interestingly there wasn't a Pied Oystercatcher in the Inlet.  As a member of the Mallacoota Birds Facebook Group observed 13 of them at Quarry Beach perhaps the gang that are usually in the Inlet have moved West for a while?  That could be explained by the water level in the Inlet being higher than usual - the mouth is still closed.

There were a lot (~40) of kangaroos in the caravan park.  This big old man seemed a bit disinclined to move on, despite getting some clear advice from Tammy.
 

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