Strong easterly winds, rough seas, a couple of raptors and sea fog at Apollo Bay

In late November a deep low pressure system ‘parked’ off south eastern Australia, directing strong SE-E winds over the entire Victorian coastline. The wind at Apollo Bay today was 30kts+ for most of today, and a gust of 43 kts was measured at the harbour. A strong easterly can blow day and night without letting up for 3 or 4 days. The sea gets rougher with every further day the blow lasts. This is a familiar event to Apollo Bay residents, as persistent strong easterly winds blow straight on to the east-facing beach bringing rough seas, low cloud, rain and salt water spray to the town. These seem to combine to affect the mood of the town. Owners of shops close to the sea dislike it for the same reason local window cleaners welcome it. No outdoor tables at cafes on the GOR can be used for the usual chats and coffees. The fishing fleet does not go out on such days. Sailing, surfing, ocean swimming and other ocean sports are all on hold except for activities that can be carried out in the relatively protected waters of the harbour. On such days the beach is only used by dog walkers.

The harbour mouth at Apollo Bay. No boat arrived or departed today.

The view north through the harbour mouth, looking towards Wild Dog Creek which is obscured by rain and cloud.

The end of the breakwater on the eastern side of the harbour mouth. The larger breaking waves collided with the breakwater with great force given the wind strength, throwing spray and large volumes of water into the air. The next photo shows water flowing freely over the rock wall on to the walking path and into the harbour.

Fishing vessels, yachts and various other recreational boats enjoying the relative calm of the harbour within sight and sound of the nearby unprotected bay. I walked along this jetty and the rise and fall of the wind howling through the collective rigging and masts was a stirring sound.

Airborne white water and spray revealed the wild air currents above the breakwater. This yacht on a swing mooring had very little movement, apart from swinging to point directly into wind as the wind often changed direction over a range of 20°-30° between E and SE.

The rectangular grey roof left of centre in the image is the Apollo Bay surf life saving club building. The swim from where this photo was taken to the beach in front of the SLSC is 500m on a high tide. I have done this enjoyable swim with friends many times. It would have been a quick swim today with the solid following sea, provided the swimmer stayed out from the breakwater beside which a narrow but fast flowing current heads straight out to sea parallel to the breakwater in these conditions. That said, I do not swim in strong easterly conditions. The last person I know of who did had to be rescued by boat from the middle of the bay. She was fortunate that her wetsuit had fluoro orange arms, which is how she was initially spotted in such rough water.

Sea fog at Apollo Bay

This photo was taken from the Great Ocean Road near the bridge over the Barham River, looking west as the fog which developed over the sea was gently blown inland by a very light easterly wind. (These photos were taken in November 2022. I had selected these images for a blog post and put them aside, then overlooked actually publishing them until now).

These two photos were taken only a couple of minutes apart. When I arrived at the harbour, the fog could be seen out to sea, but as there was no wind it was stationary. The air was perfectly clear. Then the lightest puff of easterly wind arrived (evidenced by the change in the texture of the surface of the water in the photo on the right) and the fog drifted silently in to cover everything. Not long after the second photo was taken, the boats were barely visible.

Cattle feeding peacefully in rich pasture on the western side of town with the gradually dissipating fog drifting past them.

Prior to the light easterly pushing the bank of fog west of the town, this was the view up runway 27 at the local airport. Certainly not enough horizontal visibility to take off or land. The curving bitumen on the left is the taxiway, which straightens out on a westerly heading to become the runway.

The Barham River reflecting the rising full moon after the fog cleared and the air was still again. This was the view looking downstream (east) from the GOR bridge over the Barham River.

Two raptors and a honeyeater

Juvenile black-shouldered kite. A beautiful small falcon-shaped hawk. I had not previously encountered this raptor. They can be found right throughout most of the Australian continent, but not in Tasmania. It hovers frequently and with great poise and precision.

Juvenile black-shouldered kite hovering directly over me.

This bird was flying in the evening over its regular territory along the coastal dunes and banks of the Barham River between the camping ground and Marengo, actively hunting and feeding (successfully). I have often seen it flying there, but had never been close enough for a decent photo until this occasion.

New Holland honeyeater resting briefly. This species flies at high speed and with great agility and never sits still for long. Photographing this species while it is flying is a challenge.

Juvenile Australian hobby, previously known as the little falcon. The hobby and the peregrine falcon are both birds of prey in the genus falco in the family falconidae. The falco genus incudes about 40 species of falcon world-wide, six of which are found in Australia. The hobby is smaller than the peregrine falcon, with a longer tail (proportionately). It feeds exclusively on airborne prey such as small birds, insects and when they are available, insectivorous bats. They are known to kill birds as large as pigeons, which are not much smaller than them. Those talons look entirely fit for purpose. They can fly at great speed and have remarkable acceleration from being stationary. I suppose this is the performance advantage this species has (and needs) over birds it captures in flight. The Australian hobby is very agile in flight.

I was being inspected and watched closely as I stood below this powerline beside the Great Ocean Road with my camera pointing up at this unfazed beauty. The Australian hobby can be found throughout Australia.

Cropped detail of the previous photo. Looking at these unblinking powerful eyes, I felt optically under-equipped with my mere human eyes and Nikon camera and lens.