Well walking around Horse Swamp at Whiteman Park would be correct but it is too long for a title. I’ve written before about walking round the swamp. It’s a great walk and it always seems to offer up something new.

 

 

As we started to walk round we were greeted with an inland thornbill singing its heart out in welcome. It was a good start to what was primarily a bird spotting trip. We went to the hide and while we could see birds out on the water there was nothing close enough to photograph. So we set off to see if we could get closer to them. This is the beauty of this walk as there are heaps of opportunities to get close to the wildlife as you can use the bushes to conceal your approach.

 

 

 

About halfway round there is an observation platform looking out over the water. It’s not very suited to photography, but it does afford a good view  allowing you to observe the comings and goings. Helen took advantage of the platform while I chose to lie down at water level to get some photos.

 

 

 

As we headed back to the car we spotted a long necked turtle sunning itself on the roots of a melaleuca tree. Usually you don’t see them but rather hear them as they drop into the water to make their escape, but on this occasion I was lucky enough to grab a couple of photos.

 

 

The last thing we saw was a real mystery. On the flower stalks of some grass trees there were these huge insects – about 8cm long – feeding on the flower. They look like someone has stuck the back end of an earwig onto a wasp. Freaky looking things dunno what they are despite trying to find out by looking on Google when we got home. So if anyone out there would like enlighten please contact me.

 

 

So there you have it a great morning at a great location.