An Expedition

The weather yesterday was fine with only a light breeze, so I decided it was time to dust off the kayak and hit the water for the first time this season. My intended destination was a point a kilometre or so further upriver than where I normally paddle to as there were a couple of new geocaches which had popped up over the winter months which I wanted to go and find.
I knew I was going to have to get myself around/over a reasonably significant tree trunk to get there (which is why I usually stop where I do) and hoped I wasn't in for a swim. As usual, I headed up from Baum's Weir and passed a fisherman I have seen a number of times before. Being spring, the birds were out in force (I counted 32 different species throughout the course of my paddle) and lots of nesting was happening. I have no idea how, but I even managed to spot this Tawny Frogmouth sitting on a nest over the water about a kilometre upstream from Merrawarp Road.

A nesting Tawny Frogmouth

I made it to the obstruction  in question and despite reports it was possible to get past without exiting my craft, decided the easiest option was to drag over in knee-deep water. I manage that no problem and was off again to deal with a patch of Azolla which was almost impenetrable! I'm hoping by summer when it will no doubt take over huge tracts of the river downstream, that it won't be quite as lush as this patch or paddling will be almost impossible. By the time I made it through I was so busy picking bits of it out of my hair that I didn't think to take a photo.
From there, I had clear water for another kilometre or so, passing the usual array of partially-submerged trees and branches.

The Barwon above Merrawarp Road

Eventually, I hit some fairly fast-flowing water which I had to navigate round. The previous time I was on this part of the river I was heading downstream and the water level was lower so, possibly it wasn't moving so quickly. This also happened to be the point at which I needed to find the second "cache" so after a little "portage", I made it to my destination and located the prize.
The river above this point didn't look like it was going to be any easier and I still had more than 9km to paddle back to where I started, so I turned around and contemplated my next move. I decided I'd take the quick route out - ie through the small rapids - and managed to pull it off without a dunking, but that was more good luck than good planning. It didn't look like much, but I wasn't surprised that the speed and volume were enough to push me around whether I liked it or not.
Back in calmer waters, I headed back down to do battle with the Azolla once again. As with the section below this part, there are some very pretty spots along here and the birds continued to appear.

No rapids to contend with here!

When I spotted what I hoped was a Grey Goshawk, but turned out to be a brown instead, I decided it was time to stop for lunch. I spent the next half hour trying unsuccessfully to get a photo of the bird in question as it in turn tried to encourage me to leave by flying around and calling regularly.
In the end, I ran out of time and departed with only a few blurry snaps, but did get some reasonable shots of it nearby nest.

Brown Goshawk nest

From there it wasn't too far back to the Azolla patch and the tree, which I had to contend with once again, via some more of the usual scenery.

More water, more trees and more reflections

Strangely, when I did reach the fallen tree, I was surprised to find it had been sawn half through, at which point it had broken. It was a fresh cut (I could smell the sawdust) and I'm quite certain I would have noticed if this had been the case when I went upriver two hours earlier. There was no sign of whoever had done the cutting and I'm not sure what the purpose was as it still blocks the river. It did mean however, that I could (just) squeeze under and through some of the upper branches to get past which was good as I could no longer find the low point at which I had climbed over on my way up.
Slightly downstream near the second cache I needed to find, I also found the path I had taken on my way up (the same route I always follow) was now blocked by a small logjam which I am certain was not there when I passed earlier. Odd.
I carted around - noting footprints on the bank - grabbed the second cache and was on my way home, somewhat puzzled, but none-the-less pleased with the day's adventure.

Finding a Hobby

On Tuesday, with the kids back at school and still suffering the after effects of Sunday's run and several subsequent games of netball, I decided that a gentle stroll around the river might ease out the stiffness. I don't think it helped much, but it was a good excuse as it was a pleasant afternoon and I had some investigating to do.
A recent article in the Advertiser by that guru of all things bird-related in Geelong Trevor Pescott, informed me that I could expect to find Grey Goshawks, Brown Goshawks, Australian Hobbies, Peregrine Falcons and a variety of other raptors hanging around Fyansford at this time of year. I was a little surprised to learn this, as in several years of traversing this part of the river, I had only ever seen a single Nankeen Kestrel near Queen's Park and within the last few months, a juvenile Brown Goshawk down near Belmont Common. A little more Googling confirmed that I could definitely expect to find raptors anywhere from Fyansford to town. Tempted to go to Fyansford, but with limited time, I opted instead to walk to Breakwater and back towards town. The raptors would have to wait.

Juvenile Brown Goshawk near Belmont Common on
6th February, 2012

I headed down the path trying to decide where to stop for lunch. Then rather suddenly as I approached the new Breakwater Bridge, a flash of striped wings revealed what was probably a Brown Goshawk. It landed a few trees away from its initial perch, however it didn't want to hang around for a photo shoot and promptly disappeared. Hmm...maybe I didn't need to go to Fyansford after all.
On this occasion however, I had no further success. The Goshawk had vanished, so I continued my stroll, chased down a couple of butterflies, had lunch and dawdled back towards town. I crossed back over the McIntyre Bridge and was heading for the boatsheds when I noticed another pair of rather predatory wings circling overhead. This time I was in luck. My quarry immediately headed for a nearby communications tower and settled. I doubled back and got as close as I could, however the height of the tower precluded any decent close ups with my little camera. Nonetheless, I was still able to identify what I believe was an Australian Hobby. The first I'd seen. Eventually, it decided to move on and I headed for home.

Australian Hobby near the Moorabool St Bridge

On Thursday, buoyed by Tuesday's success, I headed back to the river, this time on the bike. My legs were almost working again and I hoped to cover some more distance, however on this occasion, there wasn't a single raptor to be seen. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as I hoped. The ride was not without its excitement but that topic requires a separate post which I will get to shortly.
So, with nothing to show for my efforts on Thursday, I decided to give it another go on Friday. With more time and another packed lunch I headed for Fyansford. Right on cue, as I left Queen's Park behind and rode below the Deviation, I spotted large brown wings circling overhead. Probably another goshawk I thought and true to recent form, it immediately disappeared before I could even get off my bike let alone get a decent photo. This was becoming a familiar pattern.
Eventually I gave up before I added a stiff neck to my sore legs, had some lunch and annoyed a few more butterflies before jumping back on the bike and heading round to Red Gum Island where I went for a wander up the anabranch before crossing over onto the island and following a little trail I hadn't realised existed until now.
It isn't exactly suited to riding but I managed to haul the bike over rocks, under branches, around trees and even down some steps without too much difficulty. It was as the trail neared the point where it rejoins the main track along the river that I saw a large completely white bird land in a gum tree on the opposite side of the river. At a quick glance and at that distance it could have been a cocky or maybe even a small egret, however I spotted thick yellow legs and it was a little too chunky to be a cocky.

Grey Goshawk - white morph at Fyansford

I worked my way up as close as I could, took some shots and then decided to head round to the opposite side of the river beside the golf course. By now I was fairly certain that as predicted by the guru, I had found a white morph form of a Grey Goshawk. A couple of minutes later and I was on the opposite bank. The problem was that by now, so was the goshawk. Hmmm! I was a little closer than before and snapped a few more shots as the bird watched me for a while then moved a few trees up and then a few more. At this point I swapped back to the opposite bank. So did the goshawk. Grrrr!!

Grey Goshawk - white morph at Fyansford

And then things started to get interesting. With a screech and a rush of wings, a magpie went hurtling over the head of the goshawk which ducked and moved to a lower branch before finding a slightly more distant tree. This appeared to suit the magpie and its mate even less than the previous perch and both then proceeded to make numerous diving attacks on the goshawk, screeching and swooping at significant speed. The goshawk endured this indignity for some time, hunching as each attack came but not looking too concerned, before eventually deciding enough was enough and taking off for good.

Once I got home some more Googling and a quick check of the Birds in Backyards website informed me that the white morph of the Grey Goshawk is the only pure white raptor in the country. For obvious reasons it is also known as the White Goshawk or also self-evidently, the Variable Goshawk. It is found in Tasmania, along the north west coast of the mainland and the Victorian coast line. The grey morph is mostly found along the east coast.
Another point which was reiterated as I attempted to photograph the goshawk was the difficulty of taking shots of white birds. They are terribly prone to coming out glary and over exposed even in what should be relatively ordinary shots. The goshawk was no exception, so it looks like I will need to head back to Fyansford to see if I can improve my technique.