Hot and loud

It appears that we're going to be in for a hot dry summer this year with things warming up already. The recent hot weather has led to an explosion of cicadas up the hill at the In-laws' and it's so loud that you can't really go outside during the day without ear protection. The little critters turn it on when the temperature reaches about 21C and then go all day until it cools down again. Deafening!

Greengrocer cicada (Cyclochila australasiae)

The warm weather may also be the reason for three sightings of Oriental Plover in NSW over the last couple of weeks. These migratory waders usually only get as far south as the much warmer northern inland. I took advantage of the newly adopted daylight savings time after work the other day and managed to get myself down to Long Reef golf course before the sun went down. As well as some tremendous breaching whale action off the coast, I managed to easily locate the pair of Oriental Plovers #443 scurrying around in the semi-rough. It's been ages since my last tick so nice to get the list (slowly) moving again. And nice to see the whales returning south again after their winter break.

Oriental Plover

 Sunset at Long Reef