The rain and hail today has brought back a few puddles to
Kellys Swamp – a Buff-banded Rail was having a very lengthy and gleeful bath
in one of them at about 6pm today – I swear I could see a grin on its
face ;)
I spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day camping on a mate’s
property adjacent to Bournda Nature Reserve, near Merimbula – highlights were
Sooty Owl, White-throated Nightjar, Scarlet Honeyeater, and ‘lots’
of Crescent Honeyeaters. I’ve now just returned from a couple of
days in Sydney where, this morning, I was sitting on the deck of another mate’s
place, just off Victoria Road, near the Top Ryde Shopping Centre (ie a very
urban situation) when there was an enormous commotion in an adjacent conifer,
with Noisy Miners and Magpies getting very upset about something. I
assumed there might be a Sparrowhawk in the tree but, when the culprit emerged,
it was a Channel-billed Cuckoo!
Season’s greetings
Frank
