The House(s) of Fran_mart

So we have left Canberra and are back in Mallacoota.  This post covers the trip back and the situation when we arrived. This first image is a sign on the Monaro Highway at Hume. It suggests to me that we might be entering Canberra via Tuggeranong for several months while this work is happening.  From my perspective there is nothing wrong with this stretch of road, although the citizens of Jerrabomberra might find it a bit tricky getting to Woden (or visiting their friends and relatives in AMC).  The real purpose of the image is using this sign as an example of a style that is popping up all over Canberra with various words.  I should put quotes around "words" as in the most egregious example the characters are "signalising" which I don't think is a word. We played our game of guessing the temperature at Nimmitabel as we left Canberra.  It was 12.5C at that point.  I went for 11C  while Frances chose 8C.  By the time we got to Royalla the temperatu...

This starts with some morning shots of Canberra on 13 July 2020.  The first two are about 0630, obviously before sunrise. At this time of year the sun comes up behind Mt Ainslie. And causes Black Mountain Tower to glow. In the evening I took a walk around the ovals near the Mint in Deakin.  There were few birds around but a flock of ~35 Red-rumped Parrots were pleasant. The males are very colourful, but possibly due to the broken pattern even the males  can be quite hard to spot if staying still. On the 15th I took myself to Sherwood Forest in the foothills of the Brindabellas with a primary target of Pied Butcherbird.  Here is the route I followed. Part of the directions said that at the top of the hill go through an open gate and go right up a hill.  Unfortunately there were two open gates and neither of the tracks went to the right.  I made a choice, mainly to stay with native forest rather than pines, as shown by the orange line.  I should have gon...

There have ended up being quite a few snaps in this.  There are going to be a fair few morning shots, often featuring these three cranes (much as I dislike giving Geocon publicity). The dawn lights of Bunda St. And the City Walk lights still on in the Plane trees. Our main walk for the day was around Campbell Park. Obviously Defence need a new submarine contract.  They are having to waste money on these huge signs: I didn't count but guess there are at least 10 of these on the airport side of the Offices.  As far as I am concerned birding is a lawful activity. Rarely see Eastern Rosellas at Mallacoota so it was nice to be reminded how colourful they are.  ( On the subject of names, on the Vic DEWLP site the list of threatened species includes the Easter Curlew. ) This is the morning of the 12 ^th.  Mount Ainslie through the rising mist. A wider angle version. Camellias under the site of the fruit bat colony (now devoid of bats as there is l...

We need to be in Canberra for some routine medical tests.  On which topic Doonebury has commented in the past! It seems that most people are not in Canberra.  This car park is normally full by 0830 and this is the situation late morning.  Others have advised that (a) it is school holidays and (b) 50% of public servants are working from home. We went out to Jerrabomberra Wetlands and scored a good snap of a pair of Australasian Shovelers. Cameras have a lot of intelligence.  Mine worked out that I really wanted an in-focus image of cyclone fencing not a Straw-necked Ibis. That's better.  The aim was to get the 'straws'. Field guides rarely mention the white vent area as an ID assist for Brown Falcon. The next day we went to Stoney Creek Nature Reserve at Uriarra, looking for Pied Butcherbirds.  Here is the routewe followed. I zoomed out the route to show more of the pine forest on the opposite side of the Murrumbidgee,  I mapped this in about 1988 for t...