Hi all,
Just wanted to mention a wonderful day's birding in central Vic
yesterday, just to the west of Avoca near something called Two Mile
Creek, on the edge of the Pyrenee Range.
Picture a spectacular blue-sky day with no wind; then add four "mad keen
birder friends", an RDO for two of us and the excuse of "come to
Ballarat, listen to Mike Carter at the BOCA monthly meeting, and then
come birding".
So, that's how I came to be standing surrounded by Grey Box, wattle etc
looking for a missing White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike when I called out
"I've got Swifts!!"
Of course my MKBFs thought I was a lense short in my Zeisses as they
knew you do not find Swifts inside a Grey Box forest. Then they looked
above where I was standing and, as a wind picked up, a mixed flock of
about 30 or 40 Spine-tailed and Fork-tailed Swifts circled for a few
moments and then sped of on the wind front, heading east.
The day then got better as we lunched with Speckled Warblers and had
afternoon tea with about 40 or 50 immature Dusky Wood Swallows all lined
up, allopreening the fluff ball along side and playing "then the little
one rolled over" until one fell of the end of the perch, and then
rejoined on the opposite end. Awfully Cute!!
Total list for the day? 50 for me and a few more for my friends.
Thank heavens for the RDO, long may it reign.
Jen
PS: A little off subject but did anyone else hear last night on Philip
Adams ABC wireless that Whales are listed as a tradable commodity in the
new US - Australia free trade agreement? Oh, I do hope it was all a
nasty dream. Surely the sherrif and his little deputy aren't really
thinking of lifting the embago? Is this the price that was bartered for
Japan's support in Iraq? Oh, where are we heading? "Watch the birds!!!
Watch the birds!!! ... "
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