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It's a lot hotter out here now with very hot and
strong westerlies blowing for the last week,which is typical weather for this
time of year.
Unfortunately there have been a few casualties
caused by the hot winds.Quite a few of the White-plumed honeyeaters
nests have been blown down, some with chicks and some with eggs.The baby
Pardalotes have died.I saw what I thought was a bit of straw sticking
out of the hole and went over only to discover it was a leg of one chick and
then found another. I can only presume that it got far too hot for them as there
were no marks of any kind on either one.However, as the adult is still flying in
and out of the hole I presume that she has laid again, or, would there be
surviving chicks left?
The Mallee Ringnecks have hatched and two
of them are now sitting out on the limb of the gum tree, being fed by the
parents.
Late yesterday afternoon over in the cottage garden
a male and female Pied Honeyeater landed on the fence and as I moved
hoses both hopped along the fence in front of me, no more than 2 metres away all
the time.
We have quite a few Restless Flycatchers
nesting in the melaleucas around the house[isn't Restless an appropriate
adjective?] and 2 of them are a loy more protective than others, a bit of a peck
on the head several times and you never forget your hat!
Two Grey Falcons were seen by Reg and Jill
Oakley in August and one by Alan and Dumell McDonald last week.This was
very interesting to Ian as he'd seen them for years but could never identify
them as we didn't have any good illustrations, and it was in early August that
our son and another chap were mustering and came home and told us about these
falcons that they couldn't identify but said they were a bit like the one in the
illustration we had. We've found out since that the illustration is of a
juvenile.The sequel to this is that our son saw one yesterday leave a nest which
was very high up in a Bloodwood tree, but in a very different
location.
The Fairy Martins are driving me crazy
with their nests under the eaves of the house and in the woolshed. The mud in
the nests takes the paint off wherever it's attached. I'm wondering if it's the
weight of the nest or something that they do to the mud.
I watched a Spotted Bower bird have a
lovely bath under one of my garden sprinklers early one morning, he must have
been really enjoying it as he came back again and again, no doubt in between
snacking on the mulberries or tomatoes.
At the moment all the acacias are in full bloom and
for as far as you can see they look like pale yellow fairy floss trees, and
interspersed with the dark green of the Wilgas, the orangey tinge of the cypress
pines[they're all about to disperse their pollen] and the varying shades of
grey-green of all our other Western timbers, the sight is quite spectacular.Not
for hay fever sufferers!
I haven't heard the Brolgas for a week now, I've
noticed that we hear them a lot more in the cooler weather, but the Kookaburras
are still letting us know what time it is, although it's getting later with the
lengthening of the days.
Cheers,
Julie McLaren.
"Bowra,"
Cunnamulla.Qld.4490
PH. O746551238
FAX.0746552368
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