A Black-shouldered Kite sat quietly atop a tree just across the creek from
the verandah this-morning. Just sitting still, looking beautiful in the
morning sun, bright yellow legs gleaming out. Eileen and I sat admiring her
(as she proved to be), drinking our coffee, watching a Dollarbird hawking
over the creek, listening to a Pheasant Coucal bubbling away in the recently
lush undergrowth. For the next five minutes or so, no-one did anything much,
the scene remained gently static. Then, another Black-shouldered Kite
appeared. He (as he proved to be) flew directly up to the bird on the tree
top, not to alight adjacent as we were anticipating, but he simply landed
directly on her back and mounted her - not a word or a sign appeared to be
exchanged, copulation followed in the absence of any preludes or other
communication. Deed done, he shifted to a closely adjacent branch, she did
the bit of fluffing and preening that usually follows these acts, and all
returned as it was before, save that there were now two Black-shouldered
Kites at the top of the tree. After a while, she headed off to the south,
and he returned to the west, from whence he came. We can only assume that
they already knew each other.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we had our first Red-tailed Black
Cockatoos for the year. As expected, they are becoming regular now, and we
just had a vociferous group of 18 overhead. Last year, to my great
disappointment, a neighbour took his chainsaw to what has been one of their
favourite feeding trees, a prolific White Cedar, and cut the trunk through
about a metre above the ground. But my despair was short lived, the stump
has responded with an explosion of healthy new growth, and although there is
nothing for the cockies this year, it looks as if it should provide a
profusion of berries next time round. In the meantime there are plenty of
other cedars in the immediate vicinity which are claiming their attention.
To my knowledge, there has been no sign of the Lake Dyer Painted Snipe since
the heavy rains at the beginning of the month. Last time I saw them was 30th
January. The lake is now very high, leaving no margins in the area where the
birds were. I've been back a few times in the last couple of weeks, but even
the Marsh and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers have gone.
Bill Jolly
"Abberton",
Lockyer Valley, Queensland.
Visit our website at http://www.abberton.org
Email:
Ph: (+61) 7 4697 6111 Fax: (+61) 7 4697 6056
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