This morning we awoke to driving rain and a howling gale. The visitors all lined up on the beach to see the dolphins but as the torrential rain started up again everyone left the beach except us! We were quite enjoying the warm storm – the first proper weather we’ve had here!
We think we saw a couple of noses popping out but not dolphins. The arrival of a fishing boat failing 3 times to moor against the offshore wind (& only managing to when David helped) would have scared off any wildlife, so there was officially a no show of dolphins today (a rare event!) Hopefully we’ll have better luck tomorrow.
The pelicans are very nonchalant & carry on preening like a contortionist and hardly notice me at all:
The weather soon improved and it is so restful and beautiful here we decided to chill & not go on any 4 wheel drive tours etc. We walked down the shore & saw crabs, more pelicans, a party of pied cormorants, caspian terns, plovers, sandpipers & godwits who apparently migrate all the way from Russia – completing over 10,000 km – the longest bird migration.
In the dunes we heard & then saw the chiming wedgebill whose tuneful repetitive song says: ‘did you get drunk’. I also saw my first fairy wren but sadly only the female who is not showy like her partner. I couldn’t get a photo so this is what they look like:
After lunch I swam in the sea – the only person in it … is it because it’s called Shark Bay? And here’s David going in now.
That’s our view here.
wonderful photo of preening pelican 🙂