At 6 am today, I counted 56 Straw-necked Emus doing an Ibis Parade across
the horse paddocks off Parkwood Road, West Belconnen.
Around noon, while musing in the backyard, generally keeping a low
profile until the washing was pegged out, the vacuuming done and my luncheon
prepared, I watched a pair of extremely raucous Noisy Friarbirds cavorting in a
large silver birch tree. Suddenly, one bird launched from a branch and
glided directly towards me, so close to my head, in fact, I ducked. Immediately,
its mate followed suite. Agro brutes! The old country folk used to tell me Noisy
Friarbirds (they called them Leatherheads) were among the best-tasting of
bush-tucker birds. Hmm. Wonder if a bloke could snare a brace ...
John Layton.
