Dangerous times

Look out! Snake on the beach!

Well, how I survived last weekend unscathed is a mystery to me. On Saturday we were down at Congwong Beach at La Perouse for a spot of snorkelling. Before we even entered the water things got decidedly dicey as we came across a snake on the path. Even though it was only a baby one, it could still have done plenty of damage. Apparently the little youngsters haven't learnt how much poison to inject and so just go with a full load when a more experienced animal saves its precious venom for when its really needed.

Blue-bottles!

After safely negotiating the snake, we were faced with a beach full of Blue-bottles (Portugese Men-O'-War). Allan assured us that if they're on the sand, they're not in the water. Well, obviously! What he meant is that they tend to float about in narrow belts so if a load gets washed up, thats the last of them for a while. This theory proved correct and there were no Blue-bottles in the water but there were other stingers which we managed to avoid.

Stinger!

Allan!

Not much in the way of fish down there and visibility was pretty poor so we headed off into town for the annual beer festival at The Rocks. While there we all managed to survive drinking a nasty pilsener called Pig Dog.

Richmond Turf Farms. Hot hot hot!

On Sunday I went out west for a bit of bird-watching with Jarrod. It was blazing hot and a bit of a struggle really. And on top of all that it was crawling with snakes. Not little baby ones here but big proper snakes. We saw half a dozen at very close range. You only tend to see them when you're about to step on them!

Bushells Lagoon. Snakes snakes snakes!

They were mostly Red-bellied Black Snakes but there was a big Eastern Brown Snake as well. He comes in at number 2 on most of the World's most poisonous snakes lists. The Black Snake comes way down at number 20!

Red-bellied Black Snake

So with one eye on the ground and one looking for the birds I managed to get one new one for the list! A Brush Cuckoo #360. We also picked up a pair of Black-tailed Native Hens and a flock of Glossy Ibis. All three of these seem to be pretty unusual for round here and were enough to get us published on the Bird Sightings website again. A Brown Quail also came to investigate the car and was within arm's reach next to my door at one point! Great stuff.

A Red-kneed Dotterel braves the snakes and the heat.

We then survived all the maniac P-platers heading back through the western suburbs and I was quite relieved to get to my bed on Sunday night in one piece.

Even more fish....

A cute little Smooth Toadfish

A bit of a mixed weekend this week. Much disappointment as both Scotland and the All Blacks crashed out of the world cup and also much annoyance as a Chinese research group published a wee chunk of work that I was about to write up. Oh well, these things happen and at least the snorkeling was quite pleasant. On Saturday it was the usual Gordon's Bay trip followed by the now customary brunch in Coogee.

A very friendly Blue Groper

The sharks are still around but should be moving out of the bays any time now. The summer migrant birds have all turned up over the last week or so and so I guess the fish will start doing the same.

The Port Jackson Sharks are still here but for how much longer?

A few rarities were reported on the bird front this week (perhaps brought in by the annual plague of Bogon Moths who are with us just now) so this weekend I might head west to see what I can see.

Stingaree

Labour Day Weekend - Monday

Silver Sweep

You can't keep us out of the water for too long and so on Monday, along with half the population of Sydney, we went to the beach. Shelly Beach near Manly to be precise.

Old Wives

Rainbow Cale

The snorkeling was excellent and there were a few new fish about which I hadn't seen before. I've not put any ticks in my books yet but for how much longer can I resist?

Moon Wrasse

Southern Calamary (wee squids to you and me)

Labour Day Weekend - Sunday

Bushwalking

No snorkeling on Sunday!! Instead we all went up to the Lower Blue Mountains near Glenbrook for a bit of a bushwalk. I soon remembered why I don't particularly enjoy hiking too far in Australia at this time of year. A bit too warm for me you see. You've got to be in it to win it though and in the end this was an easy stroll and pretty level so it actually turned out to be very pleasant.

There wasn't much in the way of birdlife but there were a few critters running around on the ground. We found one Eastern Bearded Dragon on the path which decided to play dead and was so good we were pretty sure it was. You could pick it up and it wouldn't move at all and then suddenly when it thought it had half a chance it scampered off into the bush!

Lunch

A Red-Bellied Black Snake also crossed the path right in front of me. It was obviously on a mission and didn't stop or change direction for us. Although quite capable of killing you, these are one of the more relaxed snake species round here.

Jarrod and I completely fail to find any birds

Eastern Bearded Dragon (actually alive!)

Labour Day Weekend - Saturday

Back to Gordon's Bay

It was Labour Day long weekend this past weekend which meant we got the Monday off so lots of extra time for, well, snorkeling!

Blue-lined Goatfish

On Saturday we went to our usual spot at Gordon's Bay. There wasn't much about in the water really this time. Maybe its the winter-summer change-over for the fish. The summer has just begun here it seems and temperatures have begun to soar up into the 30s. The water, however, has stayed the same. At least you warm up a bit quicker when you get out.

Spot the Octopus...