The House(s) of Fran_mart

We left the Fyshwick Markets at about 1115 hours and 33.5 o C.  Our guesses of the temperature at Nimmitabel were placed with Frances going for 31 o C and me for 35 o C. Going down the Monaro Highway the countryside was bleak indeed,  Past Cooma the stretch on the Snowy Mountains Highway to Nimmitabel was equally bleak - it is usually a little bit green at the end of Spring, but not this year.  Plus, despite what appeared on the live traffic site (no warning for this area) we had about 2km of pilot guided roadworks.  Grrr!  When we got to Nimmitabel the temperature was 35.5 o C so I just sneaked in.  We stooped for a bogbreak at Bombala where the temperature was 38.5 o C (or 101.5 o F).  But wait there is more!  As we got to the Western end of Imlay Rd we hit 40 o C (Frances took this photo).  By the bottom (Eastern) end of the Imlay the temperature had dropped to 31.6 o C which we thought boded well for Mallacoota.  Not so: by Genoa back up to 37.5 o C and still 35 o C w

21 members gathered beside the North Weston ponds for a foray along the banks of the Molonglo as far as the low level crossing and back.    The catalyst for this outing was a report on Cormorants and Darters nesting in the willows along the banks of the River. Indeed breeding was happening.   All three locally common species of Cormorant (Great, Little Black and Little Pied) were seen on nests as were Australasian Darters.   The first 4 photos are various aspects of the breeding Darters.  Little Pied Cormorant ON. It is to be hoped that these willows are retained. Two checklists were made, one in each direction.     38 species were recorded on the outward leg on the South bank of the river(vide https://ebird.org/checklist/S61591346 ) and 34 on the Northside return (vide https://ebird.org/checklist/S61592593 ).   Overall we logged 48 species (thus adding 10 additional species on the return, but omitting some of the nesting records as the foliage blocked

The sunset on 19 November was quite pleasant: it is interesting how far te sunset has moved along te horizon since I first started looking at this in February. On the morning of the 20th Frances drew my attention to an object poking above the trees of Reid.  I suspect they were launching from the oval opposite Campbell High  The burner lights up the fabric,  This is the first of the odd perspective images.  I suspect the balloon is 1km closer than the ridge of Mount Ainslie  rather than directly above it.  Moon, balloon and Spring Hill (I think).  As the balloon came back into view over ANU the burner got fired up again, The second perspective shot.  I thought at this point it was going to land on an oval in ANU if there is such a thing left un-built over.  It appeared to continue to drop and then disappeared.  In fact it was well past Black Mountain and while it may be dropping it was moving away that was giving the impression of descent. The sun also rose!  (T

We're back in Canberra and tried to go for a walk through Commonwealth Park this morning.  After 3 months of being excluded for REFKAF (Retail Expo Formerly Known As Floriade) all blocked off again .. ... to allow the stage to be built for next weekend's NECKASM (Noise Expo Currently Known As Split Milk).  They are even using the area in front of the Bishops as a staging area. Shortly thereafter we went across the road to Glebe Park where an adventure playground is being constructed.  I have been intrigued what this was going to involve as the Government seems to have a love of chainsaws (induced by aboriphobic lawyers).  That seems to not be the case.  The elms seem to be protected form bumping during the construction phase . Not sure if this is the Stairway to Heaven or a more interesting ramp to a tree-house. The artisans were definitely heads down bum up! Overall this looks as though it is going to turn out to be excellent. On the next day some of the Milk

There was a large catch and release Flathead Fishing event on over the weekend.  I too the opportunity to ride down to Karbeethong Jetty to watch the start while Frances took photos from the deck.  Here is the scene from our deck around 0700.  Down at the Jetty the like for parking spaces went a long way (and a lot of boats were coming in from town).  Waiting for The Man! This boat was wheelchair friendly!  More waiting! This was my favourite boat design.  Another spectator was awestruck by the small amount of freeboard at the rear end of this boat.  If you have 200 HP stuck there it is going to weigh things down a bit!  Breakfast was available.   Still waiting. By about 0725 the mob were pretty well mustered.  My count, from the jetty, was 77 craft - probably including the officials boat. Off we go!  I had thought it might be an old-style Le Mans start, but began to doubt that when the ambulances and rescue helicopter were not in view.  200 horse