NOVEMBER 2020

 November has been a very quiet month.  No travel, only morning dog walks around Ginninderra Creek, and a couple of mornings fishing - once on Lake Burley Griffin and once on Lake Ginninderra.  I had cataract surgery done on my right eye mid November, and that cut down my driving until the surgeon said I could proceed (with care).  Reviewing the month's photos, there seems to be an inordinate number of Tawny Frogmouth photos.  With two nesting pairs in my walking range, probably not surprising.

Tawny Frogmouth (nest 1) fledged

Flowering Hakea

Tawny Frogmouth (nest 2) sitting

Nest 1 - Dad and younguns

Cool morning on Lake Burley Griffin

Red-browed Finch

Currawongs were in a BIG panic - a flying fox had invaded their territory

Tawny Frogmouth (nest 2)

Black ducks, with a Wood duck leaving

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Nest 2 growing

Cabbage White Butterfly

Raindrops on casuarina needles

Wood Duck in flight

Kangaroo Grass and a pair of Crimson Rosellas

Pipit on a post,  Grass is so tall, they have to land on a post if they are to be seen

Black Duck - one eye on the dogs

October 2020

 Still around the ACT, dodging Covid-19.  Spring has well and truly arrived, and it has been wet.

A second pair of Tawny Frogmouths have nested along my morning walking path.

The warmer weather has brought out the Cunningham's Skinks

and Eastern Water Dragons.

We had our first view of the Frogmouths' nestlings this year.

The local Eastern Grey Kangaroos keep a sharp eye on the dogs

Frogmouths pair #1 started out with three nestlings, but one was found dead below the nest.  Another was found alive, and cared for by a wildlife carer before being returned to the family.

Mum and the younger fledgling showing how to imitate a dead branch.

Managed to get another night with the Milky Way out on Uriarra Road

Kookaburras also nested along the creek

The Magpie-Larks (PeeWees) also raised their first brood

The Grey Butcherbird was on the hunt for food too.

A morning spent on Lake Burley Griffin - Esme snoozed until a carp splashed!!

Springbank Island is slowly being overhauled with willows removed to open the shoreline and tree plantings across the island.

Silver Gulls have set up a communal nesting site on the island.

Patterson's  Curse is spreading across ACT Parks

One of my Home grown Kangaroo Paws - I have a number in the garden now, all doing very well.

A Little Pied Cormorant surfaced with a large yabby and swallowed it - 

before climbing onto a rock tp dry.

This Grey Fantail was singing and chasing insects.

An Eastern Brown Snake was on the path keeping walkers wary

September 2020

 This month was mostly around home, but we did a day trip out to Harden via Dalton and Boorowa and another across the Brindabellas to Tumut and back through Kiandra.

Olive-backed Oriole - Spring Arrival

Windswept Galahs

Australian Reed Warbler - Another Spring Arrival

National Museum of Australia at night

Common Mynas

Yellow and Yellow. Cape Daisies and Wattle

Esme after a swooping Magpie

This is the dust blown paddock in January's Selection after rain

Cape Daisies up the hill

 Metal Brumbies outside the Dalton Pub

Hola! Canola

Green and Gold

Canola crop tracks

Milky Way at Weetangera Cemetery

Kookaburra clearing out a nest hollow

Female Satin Bower Bird

After the rain

Snow on the Brindies

Goodradigbee River

Patterson's Curse and Cape Daisies

Black-fronted Dotterel

We stopped for a break at Blowering Dam and found Carp spawning in the shallows.  Esme was determined to either catch them or chase them away,

The aftermath of last summer's fire in the area was plainly seen.  The devastation stretched from Blowering  through to past Providence Portal.  The Kiandra Pub building is just a shell and the historic miners' cottages are just standing chimneys.  Mt Selwyn Ski Lifts and complex have been wiped out -  Snow Gums are burnt to the ground.  The recent snow fall covered a lot of the burnt out area, but the results were plain to see.

Brumbies were evident from Bullock Hill trail to Eucumbene Plain