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On Saturday we sawed down a self-sown Box Elder Acer
negundo that was too close to the house. We left a metre-tall stump,
'bout 25cm diameter, which I'll grub out when rain softens the ground.
1000 hours Sunday, we noticed four Silvereyes perched on the stump pecking
at exuding sap. Fifteen minutes later there were seven Sivereyes
jostling on the sappy surface until a Red Wattlebird zoomed down and sent the
little Hi-ho Silvers away. The bully-bird-wattlebird appeared to take no
interest in the sap and left shortly thereafter. Within seconds, the Silvereyes
returned.
Forsooth, sirs, see seven pseudo sapsucker silvereyes supping in sunshine
on seeping silvery sap.
At 1400, while raking leaves, I noticed a Willie Wagtail flitting up and
down next to the stump. Close inspection revealed a procession of tiny ants
streaming up the stump. Assumedly, Little Willie was partaking a hit of formic
acid. I continued raking for fifteen minutes looking up every few moments
and, most times, Willie was beside the stump acting like a piebald
yo-yo.
1545 hours, when stump was bathed in westering sunshine, we saw a myriad of
midges whirling around it. Don't really know if they were midges, but 'midges'
sits well 'myriad'. Willie reappeared and, during the ensuing ten minutes, made
numerous sorties through the vortex of victuals. Willie gave way to a
Magpie Lark that perched and appeared not to touch midges or sap. Peewee
was sent packing by a Pied Currawong that pecked sap briefly, then sat and
called until I banished the bellowing brute. Later, there were a few damsel /
dragonflies hovering around the stump, perhaps they too were preying on
midges.
1845 hours, while placing Inkypink, our cat, under house
arrest for the evening, I saw Oscar Possum, the resident Brush-tail, licking the
stump top. The Bratz say his name is Oscar because that's what the O in Opossum
stands for. Yeah, it beats me, too.
Throughout yesterday and today, I saw nary fur, feather or insect near the
stump. Probably, because the sap has dried into an uninviting, isabelline crust
resembling a week-old spillage of butterscotch ice-cream.
Sayonara
John K. Layton
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