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Further to my recent post about a large owl flushed from a stand of trees
at The Rock Nature Reserve, Younger Brat and I sallied south from Wagga
Wagga on Saturday morning to investigate. We soon located the trees,
and there was whitewash on the ground but it didn't appear all that fresh. And
Otis was not in residence. We searched the ground litter for pellets, but
no luck. Apparently, its dormitory was remote from its vomitory.
We birded around for an hour in fairly cold, breezy conditions and
checked off fourteen species. Highlights were: 10 Peaceful Doves perched on
an elevated water pipe. 8 Grey-crowned Babblers. Pair of Red-capped Robins.
At least one (maybe two) Restless Flycatchers. Six Cockatiels overhead. And a
squashed Guinea Fowl on the entrance track. Nearby, a grey tabby cat in similar
deflated condition, but replete with collar and bell.
" ... never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee, tabby
cat." (Apologies to John Donne).
At a Wagga trash-and-treasure mart on Sunday, Sam bought ten old
copies of Boobook for two dollars. It's a quarterly publication put out
by The Australian Raptor Association. One copy had a hand-printed, adhesive
label on the cover which read Boobook. Fair enough. But, Sami, being an
inquisitive little ponytail, peeled away the label and discovered the original
title had been printed as Boo-boo. We suspect the ARA promptly
fired Dodo the printer.
John Layton.
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