Ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald

The last couple of days severe weather has been caused by Ex- Tropical Cyclone Oswald that has been moving slowly south-east down the Queensland coast and as of 10am this morning was off Ingham which is approx 250km south of here.
After a slightly breezy night with gusts of up to 90km the winds have been steadily dieing down, although we are still getting the occasional squally shower passing through.
I decided to  take Tish in today so we could have a cruise round the area to watch the tail end of the storm moving through.
We spent most of the morning around the Boat Club and northern end of the beach. This had the bonus of  having a nice play area for the children

Swings and climbing frames are always a hit although in this case one of the local critics was less appreciated..

...particularly when it went and got its mate and started to laugh at the children..

Although we were past the peak of the storm the waves hitting the breakwater still provide lots of photo opportunities

The winds push several true pelagic species closer in to shore

the bird passing over the breakwater in this shot is a Sooty Tern a scarce visitor to inshore waters.

From here we went round the Knob slightly to the Boat Club.
The water here was not its usual inviting self..

...but I did like the contrasts this presented

This white phase Eastern Reef Heron really stands out against the murk.
The gently shelving beach offered the perfect opportunity for our three would be King Canutes to practice their skills

Following on from yesterdays sighting of two single Lesser Frigatebirds this much larger flock of 51 birds was an unexpected bonus

they were originally closer and lower but the birder in me took over and I spent most of the time looking through the flock and and found at least two Great Frigatbirds in with the Lessers