slitherin'

Just when you thought it was safe...
Last week, before the weather turned into its current unpleasant approximation of winter, we were enjoying some very mild late Autumn sun. As mentioned previously, I took the opportunity to go for a ride to see if I could chase down some of those elusive goshawks. Tuesday and Friday's expeditions were to some extent successful, but Thursday failed to turn up any of my feathered quarry.
I was however provided with a moment of pure adrenaline as I rounded the final bend before the Queen's Park Bridge and was confronted by a large tiger snake stretched across most of the path.
I was not riding particularly quickly, however I had no chance of stopping without landing right on top of it. Fortunately I was able to squeeze past and as it was headed to the river, the bitey end was facing away from my Lycra-clad leg. Nor was it any too pleased with my presence as it raised its head and the forepart of its body into what I gather is a "pre-strike stance". Great!

Tiger snake at Queen's Park

Needless to say, I removed myself to a reasonable distance and leaped off to take some photos, doing a few quick calculations relating to speed, distance and my ability to get my backpack on and my bike moving at a suitable speed should the need arise.
Fortunately it didn't and we both calmed down enough for me to get some reasonable shots. The snake with its head now back on the ground, hung around briefly before disappearing off into the grass towards the river. I hung around too, to inform a pair of pedestrians I'd recently overtaken, that they might want to walk to the far left of the path.

Tiger snake heading to the River at Queen's Park

They did this and then expressed what is probably a common misconception, commenting that they thought all the snakes would have gone by this time of year. On the contrary. Of the half a dozen or so occasions on which I've seen snakes around the river, three of them have been around this time of year. They enjoy the last of the warm weather as as much as the rest of us.
This was only the second time I'd seen a tiger snake, the other occasion being earlier this year at Jerringot Wetlands. That snake was smaller and a much brighter colour - what little I saw of it. It was deep brown with honey-coloured stripes. This variability is I discover, a feature of the breed. The stripes as I remember were quite distinct, more so than those of the above specimen - another peculiarity of the tiger snake. Some show barely any stripes at all and colouring can change from season to season.

Departing the scene

Tiger snakes are generally coastal creatures, living around wetlands and along creeks and rivers - well, that figures - and they are quite tolerant to cooler temperatures - also no surprise. They average about 90cm in length. I'd say Thursday's specimen was at least that, quite possibly longer.
It was certainly significantly larger than any other snake I have seen along the river (all of them brown), with the exception of the monster I saw at Breakwater and which was the topic of one of my earliest posts.
So, far from seeing snakes around the river only during summer, I can vouch for their presence anywhere from September through to May - and those are only the ones I have seen!

Sssssssssssssss..........

In search of more birds and to check out the new facilities reported to have been built I set out for Tait's Point for the first time since my first visit earlier this year. Well, the facilities, such as they were, consisted of a viewing platform similar to that at the end of Ash Road on the other side of the lake and a few rock retaining wall thingies held together by chicken wire. There was however, no sign of the reputed loop trail along the edge of Hospital Swamp. Perhaps it is phase two of the plan.
What I did find, was a somewhat larger array of birdlife than last time. I very quickly discovered a number of crested pigeons who were quite happy to be photographed at a distance of only a few metres before flying away with that peculiar whistling noise their wings make. As usual, Superb Fairy Wrens were everywhere along with Red Wattlebirds, Willie Wagtails and a small, light brown bird which despite a lengthy game of hide-and-seek, wouldn't sit still long enough to be photographed and identified.

Musk Duck.

On the water, I discovered what I later found to be a Musk Duck, an odd little black duck with a bulbous scent gland hanging below its beak and a lone Black Swan. It seemed that the majority of birds, rather than making their home at Tait's Point were merely passing through. Overhead I saw a pair of Black Swans, a flock of Silver Gulls, a bird of prey which didn't hang around long enough for me to identify, a Little Black Cormorant and on several occasions, what I suspect was some species of tern, but again it didn't wait around for me to find out. Unlike Reedy Lake and the opposite side of Lake Connewarre, there were very few birds actually on the water, most were in the air or living in the scrubby cover on the edge of the lake.
Next, I headed back towards town hoping to see some of Hospital Swamp and the sections of the river below Breakwater. This proved rather more difficult than I hoped and in the end, the best views I could find were from the end of Horseshoe Bend Road in Marshall. The river at this point was similar to some of the in town sections; relatively wide and lined with reeds. Swallows, Willie Wagtails, Australian Reed Warblers and a nest of Mud Larks were all around. Perhaps the most interesting part of the view was the old buildings and overgrowth on the opposite bank of the river at Breakwater.

Which was where I headed to next. I had intended for some time to investigate a short overgrown section of the river past the breakwater. There is no formal path, but more of a goat track - worn by I didn't really want to know whom - which follows the river a short distance along the south bank. I took a few shots of the river and the opposite bank and was already feeling somewhat uncomfortable about the length of the grass to either side of the track. I turned back, then changed my mind and decided to push past an overgrown section into a clearing where I found myself perhaps five metres from a rather large, but fortunately rather immobile brown snake.

Needless to say, I beat a rapid retreat, but not before managing to snap off one rather hasty shot. I wasn't hanging around to wait for it to take up a more flattering position. Consequently, I'm not exactly sure how long it was, but if diameter is anything to go by - it was big! I don't think I'll be heading back to that part of the river any time soon...