Palmwoods Park: turtles & ducks of distinction

 

Old Orchard Neighbourhood Park the other day.

That time of year

It's that time of year when the summer heat has gone, but the sunshine's still here. Temperatures are ranging from mid-teens overnight to mid-twenties by day. That's pretty well perfect. 

And most of the tourists have gone home!

 

Here's what it looked like on Mooloolaba Beach today.

Sunshine Plaza VIPs

 

 

One of the local VIPs is this White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae). Another is its well-trained human, whose name I omitted to record.

Mapleton's visual treats

 

I returned again to Mapleton Falls National Park yesterday, and pieced its geography together a bit better in my mind.

I find I'm liking this area more and more, and I've been discovering new potential for a few more good-sized bushwalking circuits to be navigated.

 

 

 

Here are some of the day's scenic highlights.

Line of duty

 

 

 

Mooloolaba beach the other afternoon

Above Gheerulla Falls

 

Sunday's walk with the bushwalkers was another excellent off-track up-the-creek adventure.

We were near Mapleton and the Mapleton National Park, and did a loop, starting at the currently very dry Gheerulla Falls.

 

 

We made our way to the top of this, then onward and upward, negotiating a few more falls and canyons and things, before heading out along an easy fire trail.

Abbascope: an eclipse through Agnetha's eyes!

 

Yesterday there was a rather spectacular total eclipse of the sun. At least, in a remote corner of Western Australia there was. Here it was a smallish partial eclipse, but still worth observing and celebrating.

A thing with eclipses is that you're tempted tolook directly at the sun, and this can be very bad for you. If a telescope's involved, it can be worse.

I was reminded of this when one of my smaller toy telescopes nearly caught fire while I was practicing image projection techniques with it. That's when I came up with the idea of the telescope-free Abbascope. 

 

 

By drilling holes through cardboard Agnetha's eyes, I was able to turn her into a rather classy pinhole camera, and safely view the projected solar images on a screen behind her.

Stony Creek (& Stonier Creek)

 

 

Out again with the Sunshine Coast Bushwalking Club on Sunday, and walk leader Jon treated us to another of his classic off-track experiences.

 

We went to Bellthorpe National Park near Woodford, and explored Stony Creek. In fact we soon diverged from Stony Creek proper, and went up a previously unnamed tributary, which I dubbed 'Stonier Creek'. The stones were boulders, and a few hours of boulder-hopping was the prescription. That and near-vertical bush-bashing around impassable but very scenic waterfalls.

I learnt to keep my eyes open for stinging trees, aka gympie-gympie, or Queensland Stinger (Dendrocnide moroides), the leaves of which I'm assured have a very painful sting, which can affect you for up to 6 months! We encountered several, but avoided contact.

 

That time of year

 

It's the time when it's still rather warm during the day, but lovely and cool in the evening.

 

Perfect for evening strolls (or runs) along the beaches. This was Maroochydore Beach, near the Surf Lifesaving Club yesterday.

Easter storm coming?

Easter is usually storm season on the Sunshine Coast, they tell me. And sure enough, yesterday evening there were two very dramatic looking storm cells on their way from the west. Here's the first of them, somewhere over Maleny: mammatus clouds, lightning galore, the lot.

We somehow missed the worst of it, but we got quite a show.

Lake Doonella Wetlands

 

Lake Doonella's Wetlands Reserve is up there near Noosa. It seems to also be known as the Noosa Open Space on some maps. It's between Tewantin National Park and Lake Doonella,and it's a scenic and interesting place to explore.

 

 

I blame the alleged Steiner School education of the author for the quality of the poetry. But I guess it's the thought that counts.

Back to Scarborough

 

There's something unusually photogenic about the palm trees of Scarborough.

 

And with its rocks, and its Glass House mountain views. Makes you want to get enlargements printed and hung on the wall. Come to think of it, that's what we did after our last visit: Feb 2022 visit

 

 

 

I'm still coming to grips with all these Outer Brisbane seaside spots. Many named after English resorts, and mostly a bit on the sleepy side, past their prime maybe as holiday resorts, but probably very desirable as places to live.

The QSO comes to Buderim

Actually the Queensland Symphony Orchestra ventures out of Brisbane quite a lot, and the Sunshine Coast is a relatively easy bus ride away, compared with so many of the other bits of Queensland they have to get to.

They presented a collection of fine pieces, mostly well known classics, all conforming to the theme: 'Hymn to Mother Earth'.

The venue was the rather fine concert hall of one of the rather well-resourced local private schools.

It was an excellent evening out.

 

Of special interest for me was watching for the first time two old acquaintances from my days in Tasmania. Both are sons of good friends of mine, and both somehow ended up as professional musicians, playing with the same orchestra. They acquitted themselves well, needless to say.

Offsetting the acid frog

This was the scene the other morning in the Lower Mooloolah River Wetlands Reserve. There's a big tree-planting operation going on, and ponds being dug. They're re-wilding what has been farmland, and previously was wetland.

And it's largely for the benefit of two species of endangered acid frogs. More here, from the Sunshine Coast News: SCN article, August 2022

 

 

 

It's an offset project though, implying there's a developer somewhere nearby who's also benefitting. In fact I've just read the notice more carefully, and the development in question is the Sunshine Coast Airport expansion.

Noosa Marina Market

Last Sunday's market at Noosa Marina, which is at Tewantin. It has the advantage of finishing at 2pm, rather than 12 noon, so it's easier to get to for some families!  Rather tame compared with those other markets, but that was a welcome change. No crowds, and easy to get served at the many nice cafes there.

Munia, silverbill, mannikin? Don't ask Google!

These were in the Lower Mooloolah River Environmental Reserve this morning. A big family group of ........ not sure what.

My usually brilliant Pizzey & Knight bird book wasn't immediately helpful, so I asked Google, as you do, with a reverse image search.

Google came up with scaly-breasted munia, or Indian silvertail. Neither are Australian. Then it tried yellow-rumped mannikin. Closer, but only in the Northern Territory. Back to  the book then, and after studying the mannikin page carefully, I think I've cracked it. I think they are chestnut-breasted mannikins. There are males, females, and juveniles in there.

Ramadan moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Venus too, taken the other night in Maroochydore.

Dogboarding!

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of dogs riding paddleboards and kayaks on the Maroochy River lately. It's all the rage!