Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Stormy Weather

For the last few days I have been waiting to see if Cyclone Hamish - a category 5 storm - would pass by out to sea or cross the land somewhere close. By Sunday evening heavy clouds were building to the north.
From then onwards the wind picked up and there was driving rain. It certainly has not been weather to go out in and risk getting my camera wet! However, by yesterday the cyclone was passing further down the coast well out to sea and was being downgraded. Today it is even further out to sea and listed as a category 2 storm. The wind is dropping and the rain is not as heavy and only intermittent. The tides over the last few days have been listed as the highest for the month but this morning I went down to Tin Can Bay foreshore to look for myself. The storm has pushed in extra water and the tides are much higher than expected. We had huge tides in January but even though the ones this month were listed as being 200mm lower, this morning's tide was actually higher than those in January. I sat in the car, turned out of the wind and lowered one window to take photos and stay dry.
The road out to Norman Point was close to being covered with water.
Norman Point looking back towards Tin Can Bay.
Crab Creek picnic area.
At Crab Creek the rain briefly stopped so I got out with a rain coat on and my camera clutched under one arm and under my coat. These Grey-crowned Babblers were busily pecking at food on the ground. I have never seen this bird around here before and would have like to get a few more photos but the rain was starting again.
Was this a game to hang up-side down - or just a way to search for insects under the branch?

10 comments:

  1. I thought you might have been having some stormy weather Mick - good news that Hamish moved on and out to sea as well as lessened in intensity. The Babblers are fun to watch aren't they? We don't have them here but we do see them on visits to the Atherton Tablelands.

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  2. Like many highly social species of birds, Babblers appear to have a strong sense of active fun. Makes them a joy to watch, doesn't it?

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  3. Hi Duncan, Swampythings, and Tony - thanks for your comments. The Babblers were definitely fun to watch - a nice change after too many dark and stormy days!

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  4. Glad you kept your feet dry! Interesting feeding position for the Babbler.

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  5. Love the babblers!

    High tides are always interesting too. As I understand it, as the barometric pressure drops, the sea level rises by 1 cm per millibar. so the tide will be higher than predicted.

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  6. Hi Mosura, that's very interesting about the relations of the tide height to the barometric pressure. I must do some reading about it.

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  7. It's always exciting to see a new species. I like their 'color design' a lot - the curve of the beak continues into the cheek stripes very nicely :) Thanks for sharing!

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  8. thanks Tilcheff - that's an interesting comment on the color design - must have another look!

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