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December2022Weather diary page Dec 3, Kanagawa: A definite change has taken place. Highs all week only in the mid teens. It was 6 this morning and only got up to 11-12 today. Dec 7, NR: Had the heater going on Dec 1-3, which is way later than any other year, though the heat has arrived now. 35C yesterday, low 30's for the next couple of days. Still haven't had the wham-bam storm that comes in from the west - they usually happen in Oct-Nov but it probably hasn't been hot enough - we might get something at the end of this heat-wave, which is tomorrow. We did have another ECL in early Dec - 80mm (?) - rained all night/day though not torrential. Followed up with big wind for next two days - windiest ECL we've had. Little goanna has reappeared and hangs around house all day. Saw it 'da-bien' on the porch this morning - very gross - this weird white substance almost like porridge or half-mixed putty. Had some wildlife drama yesterday - discovered one of the butcher birds was stuck in one of those old bathtubs that are used for cattle drinking troughs - guess he flew in, got saturated, then combined with the non-grip walls, couldn't get out. Then it was like a quicksand effect - the more he struggled to get out, the worse it got - thank God i found him when i did. Took him out & we dried him off with paper towels the best we could. Finally he was strong enough to take a few laboured flaps up into the low branches of the nearest tree. The dangerous thing was that Goey (goanna) was lurking around the house & an incapacitated butcher bird would make an ideal dinner. Even though Bubu bit me a few times while we dried him out, he was pretty calm - i think it was like biting on a bit of wood in the movies when they take the bullet out. He seemed to realize that we were helping him coz even after i let him go he stayed very close - even hopped over to another tree so he could be closer to me where i was working. Finally he fully recovered & flew off. He was back for breakfast this morning - looking very clean! Wallaby has baby in the pouch. The baby hasn't been out of the pouch yet but occasionally pops its head out to look at the outside world with these huge, wondrous eyes. After a few seconds it seems like the world is too big and scary so he suddenly pulls his head back inside again. At other times you can just see a leg or the tail sticking out of the pouch. I don't know how he breathes inside there but guess he feels safe & comfortable. Dec 20, NR: The pattern of a cool dry summer continues - whole week of mid-20s, getting down to 13-14 at night - track pants at night. Incredibly different from my first year here. Down south in Vic, it's winter weather, basically. I'm not complaining - slightly interfering with my planned slacko-summer work schedule given the weather is so conducive to outside work, but its great to still be able to get things done. Currently that involves dealing with a a large chunk of tree that fell on north east side of house, narrowly missing the cattle fence/gate thank God. Oddly, it was the live part of the tree that broke off - just a dead spine with a few branches left standing. Big job chainsawing it up - some can be used for furniture, the rest will make good firewood, but first needed to extend my dinky wood-pile shed/shelter to make room for it. Large numbers of friar birds around the house today - they've been around for a month or two, but more now. Yesterday i saw 4 white cockatoos - my most hated bird. Haven't seen them for a long time but 4 landed in the dead tree near pecans. They were quiet, which is unusual, seemed to be checking things out - then flew off - hopefully not to come back with hundreds of their noisy mates. Saw a large brown snake near house - was heading towards the porch but managed to scare it off. One of the chooks arced-up as if to have a go at it - the snake reared-up & and there was a bit of squaring-off but i tossed something at the snake's tail & it retreated. Very brave of the chook (Curie). They're not like dogs - you can't call them off - can only hope they know what they're doing. Chooks are quite fast with their movements if they need to be, which they do, coz a strike from the snake would be certain death. Browns are one of the most venomous snakes on earth. Dec 27, Kanagawa: Cold but mostly dry with lots of sun for the past couple of weeks. The major factor is wind. When it kicks up, it can be very unpleasant to be outside. But when it's relatively calm, all is well. Today should have low wind, mostly sunny, with a high of 12 and low of 4, and that's the forecast for the entire week. Dec 29, NR: New wild tomatoes began fruiting about a week ago - all around the same day. First tomatoes have failed to ripen, even though they should have been ready a couple of weeks ago. Long days of sunshine caused it to keep growing through the fruiting period. Began reducing sunlight hours five days ago. Wallabies appearing around house most evenings - there is a family of mum (with baby in pouch), dad, & junior (last year's baby). Expecting new baby to take first steps out of the pouch soon. Cool summer pattern is continuing with most days only reaching 26-27. Around 20-21 in bedroom when i turn-in. Perfect weather in my book. Don't need air con or heater. Still haven't had a thunderstorm this summer. Some minor rain coming in from south east. Corellas have disappeared - suspect theres' a lot of natural food around at this time of year. Some commotion out back yesterday afternoon with a flock of small bats exploding from one of the trees - which is strange to see in the day time. Also a bird (not sure what) sounding alarm call. Couldn't find the source of the disturbance but i'm suspecting a goanna got into a tree branch hollow where the bats were nesting. |