Exmouth, Sunrise pic from the lighthouse

Exmouth, where the outback meets the ocean.  

What an amazing week.

Why Exmouth? Chez choose to come here last year to celebrate her 50th birthday. Thanks to Chez, Louise, Pat, John and Tracy for their feedback plus Craig Dougherty, Sue Welsh, Kate Thomson and Greg Young who also provided so much information plus my friend Lee Harris out at Bathurst in regard to the wild flowers at this time of the year which we hope to see during this coming week.

WHAT AN EYE OPENER! So much recent history behind the building of Exmouth. (You will have to look up Google, too much info for me to include)

Speaking to locals, they love the place and would never consider anywhere else to live. These locals include couples who have moved here from the Sunshine Coast Qld., Melbourne and Perth. However one business man I spoke to spends March to October here running his extensive boat tour business then moves to Freemantle for the summer months. Plus the huge number of seasonal workers who arrive every March and stay till October when they then move on to their premier summer work location with plans to return to Exmouth next March. Its so different, houses built from steel frames with  corrugated iron cladding, designed to withstand the cyclones.

Click on pics to enlarge.

Humpback Whale, Ningaloo Reef

Sunday’s excursion was a ‘Whaling experience’ at the Ningaloo Reef. It was a full day’s activity, we had hoped to swim with a ‘Whale Shark’ however the ‘Whale Shark’ season concluded in July and there were next to none being sighted during the latter part of August. June and I dived in with the rest of the group on this trip, did some snorkeling, some actually were in the water with the ‘Humpback Whales’. I was happy to get some pics.

Shoreline and outback as seen on our trip back from the Ningaloo Reef.

Rainbow Bee-eater, female

We were back in Exmouth, near a small industrial area and here were these Rainbow Bee-Eaters. It should be obvious where they got their name from. Beautiful ‘Rainbow’ colours and they swoop down, catch and feed on Bees (and other insects). This is the first pic I’ve ever captured with a bee in its mouth. 

Whistling Kite

Of all the ‘Birds of Prey’ that I had seen in this area, the Whistling Kite were the most. 

Brown Falcon

Galahs

Why include a pic on Galahs? There were so many flocks of Galahs out here in the outback, to convey a picture of the outback, one has to include an example of these flocks. 

Little Corellas

Another part of the outback are the flocks of ‘Little Corellas’. There are so many throughout the outback.

Nankeen Kestrel

Another bird that is so much part of the outback is the Nankeen Kestrel.

Singing Honeyeater

Another new species for me was the Singing Honeyeater. They generally inhabit semi-arid environments.

Pied Butcherbird

Torresian Crow

On the NSW South Coast and rural area’s we generally see so many crows (Australian Ravens) on the road etc, but up here in the out back there are none to be seen, what you do see are Torresian Crow’s. Note the difference, a blue ring around its eye pupil.

Black Shouldered Kite

Black-shouldered Kites are medium to small raptors (birds of prey), and are mostly pale grey above, with a pure white head, body and tail and black shoulders. 

White Bellied Sea Eagle

With a wingspan of 2.2 metres, the white-bellied sea eagle is the second-largest bird of prey in Australia (after the wedge-tailed eagle). These majestic birds can often be seen swooping down to grab large barramundi from billabongs with their long talons.

Our view, departing from the Learmonth Airport, south of Exmouth. Yes the outback, runs all the way to the ocean.