Early Morning Beach Activities…

 Ok I did not get up at dawn to catch the sunrise, but at 6-30 it is still early and on a sunny, spring morning the beach is busy. Not much surf, but this keen surfer is still going to enjoy what swell there is. Families take their children down to play in the sand and the dog walking brigade is out in force.

Maybe not much swell for surfers but it looks perfect for this canoeist.

Looking north along the beach, Surfers Paradise, the hi-rise hubbub, looms on the horizon

The surf life saving nippers go through their morning training drill, while a tourist catches the cancer rays. Hope she has splashed on the sunscreen…

The life guards are a very necessary part of beach life as this ocean can be deadly with rips and tides changing unexpectantly. It is reassuring to see these yellow life guard huts dotted right along the beach at all the main tourist spots.

At the southern end of the beach are the cafes and restaurants and the hi-rise holiday apartments. But I am going up to the walkway, through the park, beside the beach now. It is easier walking and there is lots of activity.

It is good to see all ages taking some exercise.

But these blokes have come down for a BBQ. What a lovely way to start the day.

But look behind them…

This personal trainer has set up his boot camp. Look at all the torture treatment he is putting his troops through. While the BBQ blokes relax in the background…

These lycra lads have stopped for a quick cuppa. Wonder how far they have biked this morning.

These pretty poodles are the same ones I saw earlier on the beach. They have just had the sand washed off their hairy heads.

It’s good to see the dogs are catered for as it is hot work walking along the beach, and more so if you have to keep up with your master on his bike…

Notice the fence on the left? Well I could hear a scratching and scuffling sound in the scrub behind it, so I peeped over. Look what I found…

A Bush turkey busily scratching in the leaf litter for his breakfast. He was quite oblivious to all the passing crowds, and most of them did not even notice or hear him. I couldn’t resist taking a video of him…

At the end of the video you will see a pile of leaves he is building up. I think that may be a nest he is creating. The male bush turkey does all the house work duties and also rears the chicks on his own.

Here’s some interesting information about these birds, to read more click here.

All Megapodes, (mound builders)including the brush turkey, incubate their eggs in a large mound built and maintained by the male.

• Mound generally 4m diameter and 1–1.5m high
• Females dig a hole in the mound to deposit eggs that the male then covers over.
• About 18–24 eggs are laid in a single mound by a variety of females.
• Mound temperature affects the sex of the unhatched chicks. A normal temperature of 34 degrees produces equal ratio of sexes: lower temperatures produce more male chicks; higher temperatures more females.
• The male uses heat sensors in his beak and test digs to check the temperature of the mound and maintain the temperature at 34 degrees.
• The chicks hatch deep in the mound and take 40 hours to dig themselves out before they quickly find cover in the undergrowth.
• Chicks fend for themselves and many are eaten by predators including raptors, kookaburras, goannas and cats.
• Chicks hatch with well-developed flight feathers and roost at night high in trees for safety.

Normally they build their nests in the Burleigh Heads National Park. I have never seen one nesting in this area before. I will come back when I come back home from New Zealand to check him out.

You may like to stop for a coffee or even breakfast at this coffee shop right on the beach. It is always popular. There are plenty more places to choose from across the road in James Street, the main shopping, café culture place in Burleigh.

I have come on my bike so I am going home for breakfast now, it is only a 10 minute bike ride.

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Restless Jo has a dedicated band of keen walkers from all around the world. To join them is a lovely relaxing, cyber way of seeing local places. Pop over to join them