Cape Solander

Cape Solander

Last weekend I went down to Cape Solander with Emily to spot whales. Cape Solander is the headland on the south side of Botany Bay and sticking out to sea with easy access by car it's a premium location for watching the migrating Humpback Whales. They're heading back down south at the minute and before we had even got out of the car, a pod swam by. Unfortunately they weren't in playful mood and didn't do anything except swim.

Nankeen Kestrel

Looking for whales

As it happened, those first whales were the only ones to be seen all day but the weather was pleasant and we enjoyed a nice stroll along the cliff-tops.

Flowers on the heath

We also walked along to Boat Harbour to see if any unusual waders were loafing around on the rock platform. They weren't, but there were two Little Terns hanging out with their Crested cousins which warranted a report to the bird sightings website.

Little Pied Cormorant

Snakes and spiders

More little caterpillars acting bigger than they actually are

We're definitely moving into Spring here now and the odd warm day is bringing out the critters. A couple of nights back an enormous Huntsman (measuring about 12 cm across) managed to penetrate the house's perimeter and invade the upstairs hallway. Unfortunately for you there isn't a picture as I was cowering in the far corner of my room as Emily took the beast head on. It took a long time to finally overcome it as it first scoffed at the fly-spray and then simply shrugged off the large and extremely heavy objects that were being lobbed on top of it. Emily finally wore it down but I'm thinking this may not be the only such incident this season.

Eastern Brown Snake

A few days back we headed out to a bit of rough bushland in the west of Sydney to try and track down some of the dry woodland specialties. The birding was good although there were no new ones for me. A couple of those dry woodland individuals are really beginning to take on the roles of my new bogey birds. The highlight of the walk though, and another indicator of the rising temperature, was the appearance of a large 2 m Eastern Brown Snake. Coming in at number 2 on the list of the World's most venomous land snakes, this one could have killed the lot of us and so it was maybe not that surprising that it showed no fear at all and crossed the little creek towards us. Needless to say, we crossed the creek too. Pronto.

An altogether more harmless critter

Footie has been a mixed bag recently but my Thursday team has been promoted back up to the second division after dipping into the transfer market and signing up a Dutch lad who has clearly played the game before!

Bouncing back to Division 2

I'll also put up the official finishing picture from the Trailwalker the other week only because look who's supporting the boys in the background. Yep, the support crew. There to the end!

Official picture