Interesting Bits and Pieces
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Historic Kosciuszko hut rebuilt after being destroyed in the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires.
Built as a travellers’ rest house in the 1900s, Sawyers Hill hut was one of the most renowned historic structures in Kosciuszko National Park.
Rebuilt by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service staff and volunteers, the timber was sourced from burnt trees that were felled during a roadside fire risk reduction program.
It is now back in business and is the first of the 11 historic huts that burnt down during the Black Summer bushfires to be rebuilt. The entire rebuild project is expected to be finished by 2025, pending weather conditions.
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Scientists discover the cause of catastrophic mangrove destruction in Gulf of Carpentaria
In the summer of 2015-16, one of the most catastrophic mangrove diebacks ever recorded globally occurred in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Some 40 million mangroves died across more than 2,000 kilometres of coastline, releasing nearly 1 million tonnes of carbon.
Norman Duke, mangrove ecologist and senior research scientist at James Cook University, said. “The key factor responsible for this catastrophe appears to have been the sudden 40-centimetre drop in sea level caused by severe El Niño events that lasted for about six months, coinciding with no rainfall, killing vast areas of mangroves”.
Dr Duke said it was unlikely the gulf’s mangroves would recover due to the growing intensity of El Nino events. A $30 million fishing industry is expected to be impacted.
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An Australian native rat vulnerable to extinction and known for its chubby cheeks has been found at Victoria’s Wilsons Promontory for the first time in three decades.
The broad-toothed rat has not been seen on the promontory for 32 years but a team of researchers, led by Zoos Victoria biologist Phoebe Burns and Parks Victoria ecologist Brooke Love, managed to track and trap one of the rats at the promontory before releasing it back into the wild.
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Warning that a third meningococcal case is likely linked to the recent Splendour In The Grass festival at Byron Bay.
Earlier this month a Sydney man in his 40s who had attended the festival died with the disease.
Anyone showing symptoms – which can include a red or purple rash, fever, headache, stiffness, light sensitivity, nausea, diarrhoea, drowsiness and confusion – are urged to contact a doctor immediately.
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What an experience!!
Photographer captures ‘oh wow’ moment as whale breaches close to boat off Coffs Harbour, NSW.
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Endangered marsupial gets a fresh chance after 12 kowaris are released in an outback SA reserve.
The Arid Recovery team — an independent not-for-profit group that runs a wildlife reserve in the state’s north — has translocated 12 kowaris from the Birdsville Track and released them into a fenced reserve near the station.
Kowaris are nocturnal carnivores that feed on reptiles, insects and rodents.
Kowaris living around the Birdsville Track have been breeding well due to the good rainfall in the past year, which has made it possible for the Arid Recovery team to translocate a dozen kowaris without impacting their population.
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Another seal spotted in an inland paddock.
A few weeks after a baby seal was found in a South Australian wheat crop, almost 3km from the nearest beach … on Sunday, an adult seal was found in a paddock at Simpson, in SW Victoria, around 30km away from the ocean!!
Dairy farmer Karli McGee said her property was beside bushland and she suspected the seal had travelled from the ocean through local rivers. The seal had moved about a kilometre since Sunday and was now on her parents’ farm next door.
Ms McGee said she contacted the Victorian Fisheries Authority after the find and was referred to Melbourne Zoo, whose expert staff would likely complete the rescue.
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Bower bird snail pellet warning on Gold Coast hinterland.
Residents in Mount Tamborine are being urged to stop using blue snail pellets after a number of regent bowerbirds have been found dead.
The pellets are the main suspected cause of death, and several carcasses have now been provided to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital to confirm this.
Wildlife and Threatened Species Operations Manager Frank Mills says male bowerbirds are renowned for being attracted to blue items. “Unfortunately, we believe the males are decorating their bowers with the blue snail pellets, which contain toxic substances which could be causing the bird deaths,” he says.
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What’s your favourite Australian native tree?
It’s time to vote on the top 10 if you so desire. After two rounds of voting and more than 180,000 votes, we can reveal the final 10 contenders in our search for Australia’s favourite tree, to celebrate National Science Week.
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Gold Coast chickens on the run LOL.
Two of whom make an ‘unexpected’ new home at Gold Coast tip.
Coast City Councillor Hermann Vorster says the Merrimac Waste Transfer Station has become home for the birds — dubbed Plucky and Foghorn Leghorn.
A second flock of chickens has been sighted at nearby Bermuda Street.
The Gold Coast City Council doesn’t know where the chickens originated from.
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Red-tailed phascogale spotted in WA’s Paruna Sanctuary to the surprise of scientists.
Scientists at Paruna Wildlife Sanctuary spotted one of the marsupials during a routine check of camera traps last week.
Red-tailed phascogales are nocturnal, carnivorous marsupials from the same family as the quoll. They are typically found in trees, eating mainly insects, spiders and small birds. The species, which only measures 10 centimetres in length can leap a huge two metres from tree to tree.
Ecologist Bryony Palmer made the shock finding at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy-run sanctuary, 50 kilometres north-east of Perth in the Avon Valley.
“It’s a species that hasn’t been seen in this area for several decades at least, and the closest known population is about 100km away to the south-east,” Dr Palmer said.
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A curious young seal invited itself into a New Zealand home, scared the family’s cat, but otherwise destroyed nothing.
Ironically, when the visitor entered the Ross family home in Mount Maunganui, marine biologist dad Phil who is a researcher at the University of Waikato was away for work. His wife Jenn returned from the gym at around 7 am opening the door to the house only to find “a cute little seal.” Her sudden appearance seemed to frighten the small seal, which quickly made its way to the spare room and then proceeded to chill on the sofa.
Jenn was able to usher the seal out the front door, where a ranger from the Department of Conservation was waiting to take the intruder back home.
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Western Queensland’s Channel Country is teeming with wildflower colour.
Rain events from earlier in the year have sent down floodwaters that have awakened dormant seeds and blanketed the region in a kaleidoscope of flora.
Diamantina Shire Council Mayor Robert Dare said the wildflowers were a unique sight for locals and tourists alike, “They come out to see them, it’s massive. You’ve got your flowers in your garden in little patches, but out here they go for kilometres wide and long in all sorts of colour.”
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A Portuguese man’s accidental backyard discovery might be the largest dinosaur fossil in Europe.
A 25-metre fossilised dinosaur skeleton was the last thing a Portugal man expected to uncover in his own backyard in 2017, but now researchers believe he may have stumbled upon the largest of its kind in Europe.
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A shrub native to Australia has enthralled the world with its beautiful flowers that look like a flock of green hummingbirds.
Called the green birdflower (Crotalaria cunninghamii)
This plant is related to peas and beans and can grow up to 9 fee tall.
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Giant 200-year-old cactus toppled by heavy rain in US
A giant Saguaro cactus that had lived for some 200 years was toppled by heavy rain in the southwestern US state of Arizona.
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Sad to see.
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Indonesian tall ship celebration from 53-metre mast wows Townsville locals on its first visit to Australia.
The ceremony involves cadets climbing up 53-metre masts to sit on the spars.
There are 209 crew on board, but more than half are cadets who are expected to learn the ancient skill of celestial navigation while at sea.
The KRI Bima Suci is on its maiden voyage to Australia as part of a diplomatic and training mission and is about halfway through a 91-day voyage that began in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia before its stops in Townsville, Sydney, Cairns and Darwin.
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Forty years ago, Goanna’s Solid Rock song took Indigenous rights to the masses.
I love this song and the meaning of the words really came home to me when I was lucky enough to stand on the top of Mount Trafalgar in the Kimberleys where there no sign of western civilisation for 360º … I really felt a deep connection … never forgotten.
“Out here, nothing changes, not in a hurry anyway, you can feel the endlessness with the coming of the light of day.”
“And the winds of change are blowin’ down the line …
White man, white law, white gun”.More.
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Ancient items … Bracelet Of Tutankhamun With Scarab. Gold, Lapiz Lazuli, Carnelian, Turquoise and Quartzite.
Tutankhamun, circa 1341 – 1323 BC, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the 18th Dynasty.
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Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek urged to save Gouldian finches from NT defence development at Lee Point.
In May, citizen scientists observed more than 100 Gouldian finches at Lee Point and believe they are now breeding there.
The first stage of clearing to allow a defence housing development in savannah woodlands at Lee Point, in Darwin’s north, has already occurred, having been approved in 2019. A campaign to halt the second phase of bulldozing has won backing from residents and citizen scientists after more than 100 of the colourful finches were spotted in bushland marked for imminent clearing.
“We feel this is a world-class and much undervalued area,” said Ian Redmond, a member of the Friends of Lee Point conservation group. “We’re hoping the minister will put a pause on the development until this can be properly investigated.”
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Desperate race underway to save Cape York’s golden-shouldered parrot from extinction.
There are believed to be fewer than 1,500 golden-shouldered parrots left in a small parcel of Cape York in far north Queensland — the only place they are found in the world.
These ‘funny little birds’ nest deep in termite mounds but mining and predators could see them vanish.
The race to save the bird, a little bigger than a budgerigar, began about seven years ago after traditional owners teamed up with conservation group Bush Heritage Australia. Several Indigenous ranger groups, as well as natural resource management bodies and property owners, are also working to save the species from extinction. Traditional owners will build a fence to help protect the area from predators.
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The mystery of a locked unoccupied hotel room at a country pub being trashed.
On a crisp Sunday morning on the NSW Northern Tablelands cleaner Robbie Lee opens the door to Room 8 at the Bendemeer Hotel. What he finds inside is a mystery. The carpet is torn up. Dirt litters the white bed sheets. The heater and fan are knocked to the floor. Publican Leanne Summers could not understand the state of Room 8 — no-one had stayed there the night before.
Monday is a new day, and Leanne decides to reopen the investigation in Room 8 and finds the bin on the ground, and the bedside table moved so she kneels and looks under the bed.
“We’re now actually thinking of calling Room 8 the Echidna Suite, in honour of our little friend.”
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Ancient reef discovered on the Nullarbor Plain.
The Nullarbor Plain was once an ancient sea floor. Stretching across 200,000 square kilometres of South and Western Australia, it is the largest limestone formation in the world.
Scientists discovered an enigmatic bullseye-shaped structure using advanced 3D satellite mapping. Analysis of rocks from the area indicates it is an ancient reef that has been preserved for millions of years.
The ancient reef (the dome is in the middle of the image, with a car in the trough for scale) is hard to distinguish in the landscape.
Ring structures like the one found in the Nullarbor are common on the Great Barrier Reef.
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The RMS Queen Elizabeth pulling into New York with service men returning home after the end of World War 2 in 1945.
A truly amazing photo.
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So Happy
Haven’t seen any bees in my garden for a few years now but this morning was overjoyed to see large numbers of both native and honey bees buzzing my pink azalea.
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Queen Elizabeth II sent a tier of her wedding cake to Australia in 1947. Who ate it?
The four-tier wedding cake of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten stood 2.7 metres high, weighed 220 kilograms and was decorated with ornate scenes from the future Queen’s life.
When the November 20, 1947 wedding took place, severe food rationing was still in place in Britain.
The ingredients for the towering masterpiece were sent from across the British Empire — earning it the “10,000-mile cake” nickname. It had butter from New Zealand, flour from Canada, rum from Jamaica, sugar from Barbados, a little brandy from South Africa.
The Australian Girl Guides, who counted Elizabeth as an active member, also chipped in.
They provided the dried fruit for the cake — including close to 30kg of sultanas, 6kg of currants and 5kg of crystallised cherries. All up, they shipped seven crates of produce on August 13, 1947. The stockpile was delivered to the cake’s bakers, McVitie and Price, in England.
After the wedding, in which two former Guides served as bridesmaids, the happy couple sent a tier back to Australia as a way of saying thanks. It was divvied up between Girl Guides branches in each state.
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Who will get the Queen’s corgis?
Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, will take care of two of the dogs at Windsor Estate, west of London, according to the BBC.
The pair, who live together despite being divorced, will take on Muick and Sandy, two young corgis they gave to the Queen as a gift last year.
The Queen is also survived by a dorgi (dachshund-corgi mix) named Candy and a cocker spaniel named Lissy. It’s not clear who will look after these two.
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Social media users looking for the perfect shot put on notice by nervous farmers as canola crops bloom.
Western Australia produces about 40 per cent of Australia’s canola crop, almost 3 million tonnes per year. The Department’s grains biosecurity officer Jeff Russell says the stunning crops always attract tourists keen to snap a photo.
But Mr Russell warned while it might seem harmless to quickly walk into a paddock for a photo, not only was it trespassing, it created a biosecurity risk to spread pests and disease.
He urged tourists to take photos from the fence line.
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Queen Elizabeth II’s bees informed of her death, as part of a long-standing beekeeping tradition.
One British colony received special correspondence about Queen Elizabeth II’s death last week – not from Buckingham Palace, but the Palace beekeeper John Chapple, 79 pictured right.
The superstitious tradition of ‘telling the bees’ of a death in the family has been part of rural British folklore for centuries. Whether it is a birth, death or marriage, the bees were to be told about all important events in their keeper’s lives. It was believed beekeepers had strong connections with the bees, so they deserved to be treated like family, and mourn them when they died.
Mr Chapple placed black ribbons tied into bows on the hives, home to tens of thousands of bees, before informing them that their mistress had died and that a new master would be in charge from now on.
According to tradition, in the event of a death, the bees were to be put into mourning. If the bees were not informed, or put into mourning, it was believed they might stop producing honey, sting their next keeper, or die.
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The outback community of Winton has helped a family find their beloved dog lost on road trip 2,000km from home.
While Deborah and Geoff Inskip were visiting a tourist attraction in Winton, their beloved boxer, Maggie, who was being cared for, detached from her collar, and ran off. In a harsh landscape home to wild dogs, 1080 baiting and deadly snakes, the risks to a lost dog are high.
But then calls from the local community with reported sightings of Maggie and footprints came in. For days, sightings by the Winton community, population 1,000, kept hope alive. The couple were prepared to stay in Winton searching until at least the end of the month. But on day eight, dog prints were spotted near the town’s airport. A few hours later, Maggie was seen near the airstrip.
The couple rushed there and waited quietly until they saw the ears of their beloved boxer moving towards them.
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Long distance delivery. It could be the world’s longest milk run.
Premature baby Levi had a ‘challenging’ start to life, with his mum’s breastmilk travelling 4,000km to help him. When severely premature baby Levi Atkinson was airlifted from Darwin to Brisbane to receive specialist care at the Mater Mothers’ Hospital, litres of his mum’s precious frozen breastmilk stayed behind.
Wanting to give Levi the best start in life possible, the Mater launched a mission to bring about 150 bottles of Ms Wain’s breastmilk, stored in a freezer in her Darwin home, to Brisbane. On Tuesday, after a 24-hour, 4,200-kilometre journey from Darwin via Adelaide, a large icebox containing Ms Wain’s breastmilk arrived at the Brisbane hospital for Levi, who was born weighing just 740 grams.
Mater director of neonatology Pita Birth said, “That early breastmilk has got a lot of really important properties in it. He needs that milk to help his gut develop and help his gut stay healthy, help him grow and get the immune benefits.”
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The story of Paddington Bear …
Michael Bond based Paddington Bear on a lone teddy bear that he noticed on a shelf in a London shop near Paddington Station on Christmas Eve 1956, which he bought as a present for his wife. He was inspired by the sight, during World War II, of Jewish refugee children from Europe arriving in Britain and of London children being evacuated to the countryside, the evacuees bearing labels perhaps similar to that attached to the bear Paddington “Please look after this bear”.
The bear inspired Bond to write a story and in ten days, he had written the first book. The book was given to his agent, Harvey Unna. A Bear Called Paddington was first published on 13 October 1958 by William Collins & Sons.
One of the last times most of us saw the Queen and Paddington Bear close up was when she did a marvellous televised sketch during the Jubilee celebrations.
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Westminster Hall
Westminster Hall is the oldest building in Parliament and almost the only part of the ancient Palace of Westminster which survives in almost its original form. The Palace of Westminster, informally known as the Houses of Parliament, serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.
Westminster Hall was built in 1097 under William II, the son of William the Conqueror, and was completed two years later.
He had conceived the project to impress his new subjects with his power and the majesty of his authority. The Hall was indeed by far the largest hall in England, and probably in Europe at that time.
George IV’s coronation banquet was held in Westminster Hall in 1821, the last of its kind; no such banquet has been held since.
Closely involved in the life of the nation since the 11th century, a journey through the Hall’s past is a journey through 900 fascinating years of history. Westminster Hall has been used for a fascinating variety of ceremonies and events since its construction in 1097.
The Lying-in-State of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall.
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The Aussie Bird Count is back
17-23 October 2022!
The Aussie Bird Count is a great way to take some time out, get back to nature and become acquainted with the birds in your area, whether it’s in your front yard, backyard, courtyard, park, play area or anywhere else you may like to count.
Just spend 20 minutes in your favourite outdoor space and count the birds that are counting on us.
Participating is simple, social and fun, and you will be making an important contribution by providing valuable data for BirdLife Australia’s knowledge of Aussie birds. There are other great reasons to take part too. Just by registering and doing just one count, you will be in the running to win some fantastic prizes!
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Speaking of birds …
Just how big was the largest bird known on Earth?
This Central Australian fossil discovery may help scientists know for sure.
A group of scientists from the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory have unearthed a set of 8-million-year-old articulated leg bones belonging to a female Dromornis stirtoni at Alcoota, 250 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs.
Dromornis stirtoni, also known at Stirton’s thunderbird, was a large flightless bird thought to have stood about 3 metres high and weighing up to 650 kilograms, which once roamed a site in Central Australia 8 million years ago.
Senior curator of earth sciences, Dr Adam Yates, said the discovery was exciting and he hoped there would be more of this individual female found.
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Queen Elizabeth II’s corgis and her beloved fell pony Emma were led out to witness her funeral procession at Windsor on Monday.
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It’s been 100 years since a photo taken on a Broome beach helped prove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity on 21 September 1922.
Members of the 1922 Perth Observatory team watch the total solar eclipse at Wallal. Photo: WA State Library.
They had arrived a few weeks earlier by lugger boat to build a giant telescope and camera to capture the phenomenon. It was an arduous undertaking and the huge telescopes that “looked like giant cannons pointing up to the sky” were built out of wood and canvas.
In 1922 a total eclipse visible south of Broome at Wallal on 80 Mile Beach allowed starlight to be photographed. A 40-foot camera and timber tower was built to capture the event. The eclipse itself wasn’t as important as the stars that would be visible in the darkness because curves in the starlight proved Einstein’s theory that space was curved.
The photographic glass plates couldn’t be developed at Wallal and were sent to Broome where a makeshift darkroom was set up at the Coastal Radio Station. That darkroom is now the bathroom at the Broome Bowling Club.
The Albert Einstein monument in Wallal. Photo: Chloe Bartram.
The Royal Australian Mint has released a one-dollar coin commemorating the Wallal expedition.
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The Queen’s death and subsequent commentary on her image appearing on so many things including currency prompted me to grab out my old coin box … found I have these from before her time …
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Lovely close-up photo from ABC’s best photos of the week.
After the rain. It was a bit wild this weekend, one moment sunny and almost spring like and the next rain and wintery bursts! I found this bee clinging to our blossom tree trying to recover from the sudden rain. Hope it’s enjoyed or at least seen. Contributor Dan_Mab.
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Those famous red boxes.
The role of the boxes has not changed for over a century.
King Charles III has been pictured with his red box for the first time.
The boxes contain papers from government ministers in the UK and the realms and are made by British leather goods company Barrow Hepburn & Gale. Documents are sent from the private secretary’s office to the King, wherever he is around the world, in a locked, red despatch box.
The late Queen received one on every day of her reign except for Christmas Day.
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You will need to pay $10,000 if you want to view alleged fraudster Melissa Caddick’s home before auction.
The property at Wallangra Road in Dover Heights in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was listed for sale on Monday by auction house Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty.
To deter nosey neighbours and those following the most recent inquest developments, Sydney Sotheby’s will require a $10,000 refundable deposit before inspection.
Just hours after the house was listed, Sotheby’s estate agent Michael Pallier confirmed there were already prospective buyers booked in to pay the $10,000 required to inspect the home.
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Sunday, 2 October 2022, 2:00:00 am clocks are turned forward 1 hour to
Sunday, 2 October 2022, 3:00:00 am local daylight time instead.Sunrise and sunset will be about 1 hour later on 2 Oct 2022 than the day before.
There will be more light in the evening
For those of us living in NSW, VIC, SA, Tasmania and the ACT and South Australia.
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A lovely shot IMO … Overall Winner And Bird Photographer Of The Year 2022: “Rock Ptarmigan” By Erlend Haarberg.
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