Weather

Rain 2.5 mm. Overcast with intermittent drizzle throughout the morning with gusty SE wind to 20 knots. Appeared brighter after lunch so took a chance and by the end of the Patrol there was broken cloud with sunny periods! It has now reverted to overcast with imminent rain. Track damp/drying but still some muddy sections. Water level falling slowly.

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Clutching our trusty umbrella, Thomas our Standard Dachshund and I set out hoping that we would remain dry and perhaps see something interesting.
We were brightened to see a couple of Bush Stone-curlews in one of the Bunya Street gardens but today they had moved next door!
Nothing interesting at Allumbah Pocket or The Other Side but at Snodgrass’s Pool the male Green Ringtail Possum was back in one of the Creek bank trees and taking the trouble to inspect his visitors.
At Platypus Bend a couple of Rainbow Bee Eaters were calling from the tree tops and I managed to photograph one of them.
A few metres further along the Walk a male Varied (Common) Eggfly butterfly settled in a nearby bush and allowed me to snap him.
My ramblings of yesterday were proven wrong at the Log Jam Peninsula when a flock of at least 20 White-headed Pigeons clattered into the air on my approach.
The Log Jam itself is now emerging from the water and photographed a nice Saw-shelled Turtle and a large Eastern Water Dragon which was on the far bank.
More Pigeons took to the wing at Picnic Peninsula but I was more interested in a distant view of a Platypus at Stringers Stretch. Managed to be in the right place when he next surfaced but unfortunately it was near the far bank with not much in the way of photo opportunities and he then vanished.
A small group of Pale-yellow Robins were hunting along Dowling’s Corridor and one of them posed artistically.
At the Platypus Viewing Platform a Saw-shelled Turtle had again climbed the sloping log with another waiting at the base. Within a short space of time the turtle at the base decided he could wait not longer and the results were recorded in a series of images! The end was quite predictable and I could not help comparing it with oft observed examples of human behaviour!
A solitary and quite timid Bush Stone-curlew was at the edge of the Car Park while the pair of Curlews seemed to have settled in for a period of self-isolation at Nick’s Camping Area.
As we arrived home a brilliantly coloured Red-browed Finch was enjoying the offerings on our bird table which made a suitable finale for a good Patrol.

Bush Stone-curlew. Burhinus grallarius

Green Ringtail Possum. Pseudochirops archeri

Rainbow Bee-eater. Merops ornatus

Common Eggfly. Hypolimnas bolina – male

Saw-shelled Turtle. Elseya latisternum

Turtle behaviour series

Eastern Water Dragon. Physignathus lesueurii

Platypus. Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Pale-yellow Robin. Tregellasia capito

Red-browed Finch. Neochmia temporalis