This morning we walked on the beach. I love the ripples in the sand left by the outgoing tide.
There were a few gulls on the beach. This Pacific Gull was quite happy to pose for me until I overstepped the mark!
Coming back through the pools I spotted this Blue Swimmer Crab.
Finally, when we got home we were excited to find this small Bearded Dragon in our garden. Hopefully it will make a home here (and keep our garden free of slugs and snails).
Saturday was such a day so I took a walk out onto the sandbar for a couple of hours to see what I could find. I was hoping to see some waders (shorebirds) and maybe some Blue Swimmer Crabs.
The walk out varies from dry sand to water to mid calf level, and always includes shoals of small fish darting here and there. I stood still and scanned back and forth until I finally saw one before it had seen me!! I think they may be a fish called Flathead.
As i got onto the sandbar, I saw a small group of gulls and terns. Unfortunately there is nowhere to hide out there so it was impossible to get very close. This Caspian Tern kept moving away, so this cropped image is the best of a bad lot!!
These courting Crested Terns were a little less timid (or maybe just more pre-occupied?) so I could get a little closer to them. There were also a few terns flying in and out all of the time.
The beach is also popular with kiteboarders due to the vast expanse of shallow water.
No Waders or crabs, but on the walk back to the beach, an immature Pacific Gull.
Getting closer....
Until I took one step too far.....
As you can see from the above photo, there was also an adult Pacific Gull on the beach, accompanied by a juvenile
And also what is locally referred to as "Whyalla Gull". It is actually a Silver Gull, and a number of them have had their plumage stained by iron oxide from the local steel works.
There was no sight of the pod of dolphins that usually haunts the marina, just one solitary Pelican......
A popular way to get to Granite Island is by horse-drawn tram, which also gets you at eye level with any birds perched on street lighting along the way.
This is an adult Pacific Gull.
As we approached the island there were some Little Pied Cormorants loafing on the rocks.
Offshore, I only saw one whale blow a long way off, but there were good numbers of birds flying by, predominantly Silver Gulls and also a few Australian Gannets, but nothing close enough to photograph. (This Gannet was taken a couple of years ago in New Zealand)
The next spot to try for whales was a few Km east towards Goolwa, at Basham Beach. We did see a couple of whales here, but the weather wasn't good and this is the best of a bad bunch of photos.
