Today’s escapade began at Snug
Tiers Nature Recreation Walk which is situated in the hills 25km south of
Hobart. There is a car park on a sharp bend. There are a few en-route along the
gravel road,
The area was not so wet today
despite some rainfall early morning. The terrain is rugged and suitable for
walking boots. This footwear was a good choice this morning as I was inches
away from treading on a snake due to having my eyes in the trees and not on the
ground in front of me. The snake hissed at me (the warning) reared up (strike mode) so I carefully stepped backwards keeping my gaze firmly
on the snake! The snake shook its head in disgust at me and slithered away!
There are only three species of snake on TAS (Tiger, Copperhead and
White-lipped) and this looked like a young snake from its size and patterning
below which caused a slight jump in heart rate! I was however grateful for the
warning!
The trail was busy with small
groups of Honeyeaters, Fantails and Thornbills. A flock of Green Rosella flew
into the tree that overhung the path behind me. The parrots were feeding on the
small fruits or the buds of the flowers. That was a pleasant surprise that
turned out to be the only endemic of the outing.
Crescent Honeyeaters were the
noisiest bird along the path with a small group gossiping away and then chasing
each other through the trees.
The biggest surprise of the day
apart from the snake was a pair of Beautiful Firetail that appeared out of no-where
in a tree adjacent to the path. Perhaps this path does not get many walkers and
the birds were ticking me off!
The skies were pretty grey and
there were Bruny supplies to get so I stopped off in Kingston Town before
making my way to Peter Murrell Reserves with hope that Forty Spotted Pardalote
might still be holding on there. No Forty Spot but a Fan Tailed Cuckoo was showing off its
insect catching techniques along Coffee Creek towards Heron pond.
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