Filling in more time

This week seems to be rather busy with off-block things to do , which involve periods of inactivity that need to be filled in.

On 24 January the gap appeared due to needing to get a couple of new tyres on the Jetta.  The old ones had done 60,000kms so not too bad.  I decided to walk from the tyre supplier (Goodyear on Yass Rd Queanbeyan) to a couple of dams just across the ACT border.  This went past a sacred site: Yass Rd Takeaway - purveyors of the best hamburgers in Australia.
I then left NSW by going under the railway and crossed the Molonglo, feeling the bridge bounce as trucks passed over.  Here is the view upstream  - the crossing used to be the main road!
 And this is downstream, heading for the junction with the Mighty Queanbeyan River.
 A few birds then began to appear: Eastern Rosella ...
 .. Noisy Miner (living up to its name); and ...
 .. Galah.
 This dam was a target as it sometimes has some interesting birds but today had only a few very common ducks.  The ring of dry mud does illustrate how much water has gone in the last 2 months: when really full the water reaches up to the brambles on the RHS.
In the afternoon I went out to the Plain to check on the Whiskered Terns.  It was very windy so I couldn't get a clear image but this does show a chick to be nearly as big as the adult bird.
There were a lot of recently hatched Hoary-headed Grebes around.  I couldn't get a photo of them riding on their mum's back but this shows the stripey heads.  (The 'scope/phone combo was at a different angle to the wind so it seemed to give a far better result.)
Today (25 January) I had a dental appointment scheduled early and then a BBQ Stakes run at noon.  I decided to fill in the time by going to Giralang Pond primarily to twitch a Glossy Ibis. Of course I started at the wrong end of the pond and then moved further away to McKellar Pond.  That wasn't all bad as I scored a Lathams's Snipe and this Intermediate Egret.  Note the greenish facial skin and the gape only just reaching the eye.
 This shows the bird (bottom right) is about the same size as the White-faced Heron (top left).
Here is the target bird - Glossy Ibis - looking glossy while probing sludge for brunch.  This was Bird of the Day.
 I don't know how many ducklings this Pacific Black started with, but she only has one now.
Heading back I still had a few minutes so swung by the car park at Bruce Stadium to check the Superb Parrot situation.  It was excellent with at least 10 birds present.  This is a male ...
 ... and this an indolent juvenile, begging for food but quite capable of fending for itself
A good couple of trips.

The sunset at home was particularly spiffy tonight so here is an image from 2030 looking East ..
.. and 3 - 4 minutes later looking West.

You have to be quick with this stuff.  After taking the last two images (perhaps 6 minutes in total from the first Eastwards snap) I turned to face East and it was just drab greyness.

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