Among the best indications that we’re going to get rain is that our pink Storm Lilies begin to flower. The flowers above are Zephyranthes grandiflora and they’re a small bulb that flowers when the air strain drops. It doesn’t matter how a lot water you give them to encourage flowers, as a result of a storm is required earlier than they flower. We even have white Rain Lilies Pancratium zeylanicum that additionally rely upon the air strain altering to flower.
White Rain Lily
As you possibly can see, each species of bulbs are flowering and there’s a good motive for that. The primary few days of 2023 have been extraordinarily moist in Broome and surrounding areas and we have now come off it calmly on the town actually. I do know I steered you might come and discover Australia, however it actually does rely upon the place you need to go and when. A really dependable supply of knowledge for the highways in Western Australia is the Fundamental Roads Journey Map. The north of Western Australia is not accessible by highway attributable to unprecedented flooding.
Fitzroy Crossing specifically has suffered probably the most in the previous few days with the city flooded and the bridge severely broken. The river peak reached 15.81m and the river peak gauge then failed, however the water degree is slowly dropping because it strikes additional downstream in direction of Langi Crossing after which the ocean. When you can think about the Low Stage Crossing with an additional 15.81 metres of water peak then you possibly can perceive it’s plenty of further water. The rain doesn’t have to fall in a city {that a} river runs by means of for it to flood. The river catchment space is very large and it’ll proceed to circulation for a lot of months now providing some severe challenges to the bridge structural engineers.
Broome has obtained plenty of rain these previous couple of days, however we are actually beginning to dry out. Broome climate statistics are a imply common rainfall of 194.1mm for the entire of January, which is our wettest month usually. Our imply common is 627.6mm for the entire 12 months. These data are from 1939 till 2022, however they are going to be adjusted after what we have now simply obtained. We’ve simply had 565.4mm of rain within the first 6 days of January.
Broome rainfall
Tropical Cyclone Ellie had dropped to be an ex-cyclone, however she sat over Broome for a couple of days exhibiting us that Mom Nature is in cost. Though it’s a bit depressing having to remain inside watching your grass develop underwater it’s much more depressing for the birds. For 2 days we didn’t see or hear birds aside from Oriental Pratincoles that in some way managed to battle the wind and feed. On Friday, when the wind dropped, there have been lots of them simply sat on the roads clearly exhausted.
There are excellent storm drains round Broome and the entire rainwater goes into huge ditches after which is managed to exit into Roebuck Bay. Nonetheless, it’s plenty of water to clear and it’s nonetheless slowly shifting by means of the drainage programs. Our blue sea has change into a muddy color for apparent causes.
Storm water drains
Australian White Ibis in a storm water drain
The Plumed Whistling-Geese have dispersed and we’re listening to them overhead now they usually have loads of locations to face round in muddy water now.
Plumed Whistling-Geese
The Masked Lapwings have been breeding and their younger are having to cope with extra puddles than they might usually need to.
Masked Lapwing chick
The Willie Wagtail is hardly standing nonetheless because it chases the flying ants and flits about continuously.
Willie Wagtail
As quickly as we heard birds coming into our backyard on Friday morning round 5.30am I went out to offer them some meals. That they had actually had a troublesome couple of days and something we might do to assist we’d. There have been quickly a few dozen very hungry Double-barred Finch within the backyard together with Bar-shouldered Doves.
Double-barred Finch
We’ve been searching for considered one of our Tawny Frogmouth households that also had younger at Christmas and are but to seek out them. Little doubt they’ve been watching us and we hope to determine the place they’re now roosting. The Tawny Frogmouth that’s blind in a single eye stays in the midst of the dense tree in the midst of a roundabout and was clearly a bit drained after the entire rain.
Tawny Frogmouth having a yawn!
So, though we had a great day birding round Broome observing 113 chicken species on January 1st we are actually restricted on the place we journey till the water degree subsides. We are able to anticipate the freeway south to supply wonderful birding alternatives as soon as we’re allowed to journey on it once more.
We are able to anticipate extra rain within the coming weeks and months, as a result of that is our “Moist Season”, however no person was actually anticipating fairly this a lot rain!