Hamilton Island

Hamilton Island is in the Whitsunday island group at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef and we've just spent a lovely week there with Kath and Dave. The place certainly did not disappoint.

Room with a view

Spectacular views of the beach and across the channel to Whitsunday Island greeted us from our hotel balconies and I had Osprey and Brahminy Kite fishing in the bay after only 10 minutes!

Time was spent fishing (Emily hooked a massive shark at one point but perhaps luckily it broke off after a while), snorkeling, drinking cocktails, and I even learned how to sail a little catamaran.

Learning to sail

The birdlife wasn't spectacular but the island is running with Bush Stone-curlews which is a delight. We also had wallabies and possums descending from the surrounding bush in the evenings to take advantage of the pristine lawns and, no doubt, fruity trees.

Bush Stone-curlew in it's natural environment

Bush Stone-curlew in the pub

Although we saw several turtles in the water from our balcony, I didn't manage to encounter any while swimming off the beach. Saying that, the sandy bottom meant poor visibility and it was pretty difficult to see anything out there.

Tall-fin Batfish

Long-finned Cod

Beaked Coralfish

Sea Cucumber

For clearer waters and all the fish you can point a camera at, you need to take a trip out to the Barrier Reef...

 

Snorkeling on the Barrier Reef

Clam

Although we saw turtles from several boats and also from the hotel window, I didn't manage to get any pictures. Nor did I manage to capture my first spectacular sighting of flying fish as they soared alongside the boat while travelling to the reef. The Barrier Reef, however, is certainly the place to try out your new underwater camera and, despite most fish swimming rapidly in the opposite direction, I did manage to snap a few 'record shots'...

Six-banded Angelfish

Lined Butterflyfish

Steephead Parrotfish

Greenfin Parrotfish

Whitley's Sergeant

Blue-lined Rabbitfish

Found Nemo - Barrier Reef Anemonefish

Hopefully I'll be able to get some more pictures from the waters around Sydney over the coming warmer months.

Across the reef

 

Lapwing twitch

The twitch is on

A couple of days before we were all due to head north to the tropics, a mega rarity just happened to show up in Penrith at the foot of the Blue Mountains. As far as I can tell this is only the second Australian record for this species. Breeding in northeastern China and Japan and only getting as far south as Cambodia in the winter, this individual was well off track. It always amazes me just where a bird that's so way way off the mark chooses to land up. If I was a lost bird finding myself in entirely the wrong continent, I certainly wouldn't decide to stop in the middle of Sydney. Believe me there are better places to visit round here.

But no matter, that means easy twitching for me! An extended lunch break was all it took to add the Grey-headed Lapwing #468 to the list.

It spent a bit of time tantalising us from the gutter before standing up...

 

Grey-headed Lapwing