Weather

Rain 2.5 mm. Sunny with cloud building particularly to the South and East. Light breeze from NE. Track in general damp, drying. Most puddles have tried up but areas of mud persist, today exacerbated by horses going in both directions. Having grown up with horses we used to seek open areas where our horses could canter, or at least trot and get worthwhile exercise. I find it difficult to understand why anyone would want to ride along a narrow walking track unless it was a short cut to a more suitable area. The rider would have no opportunity to study the wild life and the horse is most of the time sandwiched between a barbed wire fence and a steep slope into the creek. One would just hope that it didn’t get spooked. In many sections of the walk, pedestrians would have to wait for several minutes for the horses to pass and even then there would be little room.

Post

The weather today looked much more promising as Thomas and I set off for our exercise and to escape our voluntary self isolation.
We started well by photographing a large Stick Insect which was perched on the outside of the kitchen window.
After that we saw in a nutshell no sign of animal life along the track, although we heard what were probably a couple of Saw-shelled Turtles sliding into the water at the Log Jam before we were close enough to see them.
The birds were also thin on the ground and none came near enough to be photographed.
Crossing the Highway Bridge we found the juvenile Eastern Water Dragon sunbaking on the rocks below and that broke the duck for the day.
No Bush Stone-curlews were seen in any of their usual haunts.
As we arrived home an Olive-backed Sunbird was perched to greet us in one of the Grevillea bushes and substantially improved our score.

Stick Insect. Family Diapheromeridae

Eastern Water Dragon. Physignathus lesueurii juvenile

Olive-backed Sunbird. Cinnyris jugularis

Comment

We seem to have reached a quiet time for wildlife spotting along Petersons Creek which fits broadly with my observations in previous years.
My wife Jennifer and I, being of ages highly vulnerable to Covid-19, are doing the best we can within reason to protect ourselves by voluntary isolation.
Although I, and sometimes our large and also elderly Dachshund Thomas, enjoy our daily exercise, my Patrols do not fully conform to the excellent advice of our Federal Government.
On my walks I am also still regularly meeting visiting groups or families, as I did today, who should probably not be here and who obviously have a different attitude than mine towards personal avoidance.
For these reasons I have decided that for the foreseeable future I will discontinue my daily walk and blog.
I will probably still take the occasional walk, probably at antisocial hours, and when I do I will certainly produce a Blog with a few photos.
I would like to thank all of my followers and supporters who have encouraged me with your Likes and Comments.
I hope that I will be able to start my daily walks again in the not too distant future.
All the Best and Keep Safe

Ian – Platypus Patrol