Random encounters and the year's first twitch

I've always got my camera with me just in case I come across something interesting and so here are a couple of the critters that I've stumbled across in the last couple of weeks...

Lace Monitor

This Lace Monitor was hanging out in a picnic ground at Bobbin Head when some little kids chased it across the grass. As goannas do, it rushed up the nearest tree. After a while when the danger had passed it decided to settle down for a bit of a snooze and to catch some sun.

Bottlebrush Sawfly

The sawfly is related to wasps and things but doesn't have a sting so they're alright in my book. They're called sawflies because the female uses a saw-like egg-laying tube to cut a slit into the stem of a plant to lay her eggs inside. This one is a Bottlebrush Sawfly and lays it's eggs in the native bottlebrushes of which there are several in my in-laws' garden. 

Ringtail Possum

This Ringtail Possum has been hanging out in the back yard for a few weeks now. We surprised him on the back fence when we got home the other night.

St. Andrew's Cross Spider

Not all spiders are horrendous. Only most of them. The St. Andrew's Cross Spider is one of the prettier orb weaving spiders and is a common sight round Sydney. They're so called because of their web design which often includes a big white diagonal cross at it's centre.

Grey and drizzly Shoalhaven Heads

The first twitch of the year has also been successfully completed! The trip took me south of Sydney to the Shoalhaven Heads where I've picked up a load of vagrants in the past. Either this is one tremendous hotspot for rarities or it's a tremendous hotspot for rarity spotters. Either way, a young Inland Dotterel #483 which is normally found in the dry desert and gibber plains of the interior was reported down there and so I was into the car and heading south once again. Thankfully it was the only cool and overcast day we've had this year and so it wasn't too much of an ordeal to be walking about on the beach looking for the bird. It was tracked down without too much difficulty hanging out with the Golden Plovers just where it was supposed to be. That saves me a bunch of time in the future trekking about in a desert!

Inland Dotterel