Morning Moments

 Walking the Dogs at Dawn

 Cormorants in the Morning Sun Drying Off

 Night Heron on the Creek Bank

 Cormorant Family

 Cormorants on the Creek Bank

 Kookaburra Family on the Creek Bank

Sunrise at Sea

X Marks the Swallow

 Honeyeater in the Morning Sun

 Waves at Sunrise out from Marcoola Beach

 Night Heron on the Creek Bank

 Walking Marcoola Beach at Dawn Towards Old Woman Island

 Kookaburras Look Right

 Night Heron and Tilting Tree

 Cormorant Family

 Night Heron Under Dawns Light

 Feeding Honeyeater

Birds and Waves

• Superb Fairy Wren --I believe these are actually known as Jenny Wren's as well and often are seen accompanying the more colorful Variegated Wrens.

• Pale Faced Rosella --The first bird I spotted this morning at Currimundi Lakes. He was with a friend and they flew right over my head as i approached the lake shore. He came back to get his photo taken.

• Variegate Fairy Wren -- I thought this was a little Blue Wren when i first spotted him amongst the bramble. He stayed hidden for a bit and it was a bit difficult getting a proper shot on him but just as i was about to give up. He kindly popped up for a couple of quick shots.

• Wattle Bird --This is the Brush Wattle bird and is part of the Honeyeater family. They have an annoying call and are quite an aggressive bird. I find their patterns interesting and up against the Banksia I thought it worth a photo.

• Terns on Rocks -- I always love to stand and look across to Mount Coolum and wait for a good wave for a photo. It was a clear sky so there were no reflections in the rock pools of value. It was left up to the birds and the waves to give me photo opportunities.

• Fishing -- There were some fisherman out today but mostly small craft and the larger vessels are the ones i look for. I have just realized for next time when i go back to the point an error i made. I need to keep the wave splashes to the left or right of Mt Coolum.

•  Searching Rock Pools Point Cartwright -- I often see families looking amongst the rock pools at the point and they do assist a photo for variety instead of having the same view of the Mountain.

• Pelican Searching for Food -- I threw this old photo in today. Well really just because i've been reediting old photos and this was one of them. I'm really not sure what these two were playing at.

• Rainbow Bee Eaters with food -- Rainbow Bee Eaters hardly ever need a drink as the insects they eat contain all the moisture they need.There are many species of Bee Eaters in Africa, but the Rainbow Bee Eater is the only representative of the family in Australia

• Waves Washing over Rocks at the Point -- I find it relaxing and interesting to sit and watch the waves hit the rocks at the point . Such alovely view across to Mount Coolum and Old Womans Island.

• Children on the Sand at the Point -- I thought these two cute children with their bikes worth an add to this blog !

• Oyster Catcher Looking for Food -- I enjoyed sitting and watching this Pied Oyster Catcher searching for food as the waves splashed beside him. 

Vessels, Waves and the Sea

Cargo Ship rounding the point at Shelly Beach Caloundra

•  Dicky Beach and the Wreck of the S.S.Dicky -- In July of 2015 the shipwreck of the S.S. Dicky was removed from Dicky Beach after a 122 year residence and Sunshine Coast people gathered to say farewell to the shipwreck for which the beach was named.The trading boat ran a ground in 1893 and had remained on the beach all those years

•  AHS Centaur -- The Scottish built AHS  Centaur  was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine off of Caloundra Queensland on 14 May 1943. There were 332 medical personnel and civilians aboard, 268 died. The vessel was launched in 1924 as a combination passenger liner and refrigerated cargo ship and carried passengers, cargo, and livestock  between Western Australia and Singapore before being handed over to the Australian military for conversion into a hospital ship in January 1943. This cargo ship is in the vicinity of the wreck under the sunrise.

Cargo Ship under the Sunrise Shelly Beach

• R.M.S Titanic  -- On April 10 1912 one of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners ever built, departed Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912,it struck an iceberg and the British ocean liner sank into the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada.There were 2,200 passengers and crew on board.

• H.M.S Sirius -- The flagship of the First Fleet was the HMS Sirius and on 19th March 1790  was wrecked on a coral reef, at Slaughter Bay Norfolk Island. She had led the fleet of 11 ships that set out from England to Australia in 1787 and was a vitally important ship for the survival of the new settlement at Sydney Cove. Her loss was devastating for the new settlers .

• S.S.Yongala -- The Yongala was an early 20th century coastal steamer and sunk during a cyclone in March 1911 off the coast of Townsville on the Great Barrier Reef. The wreck was  the final resting place of the 122 passengers and crew and is now one of Australia's most popular wrecks for diving enthusiasts. It supports a great diversity of fish life with 122 recorded fish species around the wreck.

• H.M.A.S Sydney -- The death of 645 personnal on 19th November 1941 on the Royal Australian Navy's  HMAS Sydney during a battle with the German vessel HSK Kormoran in the Indian Ocean off the Western Australian coast.  It remains Australia’s greatest wartime mysteries even the location of the wrecks was not established until 2008. For 12 days the government remained silent about the loss of the Sydney and  Prime Minister John Curtin made the first of two public announcements on 1 December 1941, he did little but confirm that the Sydney had been sunk. Little information was released until 1957 and still no definitive story of what really happened has surfaced.

Cargo Ship at Dawn 

Full Moon off of Moffat Beach

Birds at the Maroochy River Mouth

•  Terns on rocks with Old Woman Island in the Distance -- Mudjimba or Old Woman Island  offers treats for both snorkelers and divers, with coral gardens and amazing variety of nudibranch species and invertebrates . It has butterflyfish, lionfish, moray eels, wrasse, angelfish, morwong, surgeonfish, damsels, pufferfish and gobies are regular shows.

• Tern on Marcoola Beach -- Common Terns mainly eat small marine fish, but will also eat aquatic insects and crustaceans.
  

• Tern coming in to Land -- The Common Tern is mainly coastal when not breeding and found in offshore waters, ocean beaches, estuaries and large lakes.
  

 Seagulls and Herons on Maroochy River

 Herons and Terns and Seagulls

 Sea Hawk on Marcoola Beach

 Herons on Rocks

  Basset Hound on the Sand at North Shore

 Pair of Herons

Pincushion Island on the Maroochy River Entrance

 Pincushion Island and Point Cartwright Lighthouse

Cormorant over the Ocean to Point Cartwright

 Tern Under Mount Coolum Marcoola Beach

 Herons Terns and Seagulls on Waters Edge

Herons at the Maroochy Mouth

Crows on Marcoola Beach