The House(s) of Fran_mart

 This has a few snaps from Friday in Canberra.  Going back to an old joke to amuse our daughter "Who stole Black Mountain Tower?"  It is interesting that it almost allows one to envisage what Black Mountain looked like pre-tower.  It, like the cat in a Garrison Keilor song , came back. After an entertaining morning at the croquet lawns I went out to JerrabomberaWetlands hoping to find a 'good' bird for Bird A Day.  I did spot a/the Freckled Duck (already used as BAD) silhouetted against the water.  Really, with this species the silhouette is all that is needed. Just as well since post-editing doesn't greatly improve matters ! There was a good-sized flock of Australian White Ibis towards the Billabong.  I counted 90 Ibis in total but here are a few of them. I cruised over to the far end of the Reserve, hoping to find a Tawny Frogmouth which nested there last year.  I think I spotted the nest being reconstructed but despite peering at the nearby tre...

 To check out a geological site we walked from the Molonglo Gorge car park to Blue Tiles and back.  To avoid the scrambly bits of the track closest to the River (blue line) we came back on forest tracks (yellow dashes). A view down on to the Molonglo River.  A surprisingly strong flow considering the dry conditions. Much moss on this rockface indicates a moist microclimate.  We were surprised that we didn't spot any ferns. More gorge views. This wattle has been identified on iNaturalist as Acacia rubida , which I should have been able to identify myself. Our turn point at Blue Tiles picnic area. I didn't enjoy the rough walk along the track so decided after looking at the map to walk the roads along the edge of Kowen Forest instead. It looked a little longer but much easier walking.  Unfortunately it didn't include the contours of which there were several!  This was the nastiest, between points A and B on the map  From fiddling with Google Earth the cr...

 Looking down from our balcony on 16 August there was a modest flock of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos feeding in a grassy area in Glebe Park. So I took myself off there to see what could be seen.  By and large the birds were behaving well, with only an occasional screeching snap at each other. They were feeding on roots of some description being dug out of the lawn. This was the best I did of an erect crest. This shows how deeply they were delving, Several of the birds had colour between the wings.   This is being done by researchers from  the Cognitive Ecology Group at the Research School of Biology, ANU). We are measuring social networks and foraging ecology in the north-side Canberra cockies, with dye-dots on the backs to identify individuals. They  use these as a non-invasive alternative to trapping and banding - the dots last for around 3 months.  From the list of information on an email to the COG chatline they were tagged at roosts in ANU (pink) an...

 

 The basic calculation for this trip was when the Mazda would reach 20,000 km and thus need its second service.  A twist is given to that by wanting to book the service 4 weeks out to ensure I get a courtesy car for the day of the service.  So it was set for 11/7.  It has been annoying that something in the car system has been set so that it gives warnings about service interval and oil change every time the car is started once I passed 10kkm after the last service/  I was able to blot it for a while but that has now come back.  GRRRR. A second calculation came about with the price of diesel.  Using the petrol spy app (even though the Mazda uses diesel) showed the price on Thursday 6 July to be 209.9 c/l in Mallacoota - ripping the community off? no, no  not us - 178.9 in Cann River, 185.9 in Bombala and 168.9 at Costco in Canberra.  The Mazda suggested we had a range of 450km and it is about 370 km to Canberra.  So the decision was...

 We packed up and were outathere by 0800 hours.  Unfortunately, as I drove off a warning light with a depiction of a tyre appeared.  On consulting the manual, which - unlike that for our previous Jetta - is useful, it was suggesting low tyre and a visit to a dealer.  Fortunately there was a Mazda Dealer in South Melbourne so we visited there.  The reception folk realised - after a very little guidance - that we had an urgent issue and investigated the issue returning the car, but not the nail that had stuck in the front tyre, before 10 am.  So we set off again. This began by visiting a typically confusing intersection to get on to the M1.  I am sure Vic Roads recruit their traffic designers from psychotic rodents that have failed maze running. Going through the Domain Tunnel was the usual slot-car racing experience (with bonus b-double).  The green lights running down the side of the tunnel were new! Heading out, Frances took over the right hand s...

 The business today was going to the Western Treatment Plant (WTP) near Werribee.  I am not sure how big the place is, but its huge.  We often do 60 km on the tracks in there.  Today started off with what could be called Average weather.  Possibly a step down, to Ordinary.  It was still raining when we left our accommodation in Rosslyn St.  The first image is Spenser St, but the small camera didn't like the low level of light: at 0800 hrs it was still barely light. I think these next images are somewhere over the Westgate Bridge but still manky. The rain stopped just before the the Point Cool turnoff, but the temperature still hovered around 8C. It was good to get Bird of the Day done with early.  These 3 Brolgas were seen from Point Wilson Rd, before we actually got into the Plant. We got a few birds in the T-section ponds but it was so unpleasant out in the wind we didn't get out of the car.  Touring the Western Lagoons a highlight was a fl...