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On Saturday morning, we walked through a rough-grassed area at the Wagga
showground where Linda thought she'd seen Tree Sparrows recently. I saw a
few in that area of Wagga circa 1995, but no luck this time.
However, we saw seven House Sparrows in a bare tree chirping excitedly
while a pair of Magpie Larks called stridently from higher in the tree. We
also noticed a Willie Wagtail swooping and chittering at something on the
ground. The Wagga Wagga wagtail withdrew as we approached
and we discovered the cause of the birds' angst was an old softball
which appeared to have been there for years and was probably exposed to
view by recent mowing.
The outer covering had split and lifted away from the body of the ball, and
the wrinkled, weathered leather casing together with broken, distorted stitching
suggested a tortuous reptile. Beset with a surge of imagination, I whipped
out my notebook and copied down the following: "Looks like a
Picasso-esque rendition of a rotund death adder shedding its skin," and
proffered it for elder brat's critque.
"I think, Picasso, you're a few paints short of a complete
palette," the brat replied. She needs a good smack. But, I suppose, I
should be grateful she has an inkling of who Picasso was. Interestingly,
although an inanimate object, the dilapidated softball nonetheless put the birds
into panic mode.
Back home in the Holt backyard at 1530 today, I saw about 60
(conservative estimate) Straw-necked Ibis flying in a line from north to west.
As they moved across the sky, the line wavered and the birds began to form into
a couple of untidy arrowhead formations.
Also saw about 20 Silvereyes feeding in shrubbery. I binoed them and they
turned out to be the grey-chinned variety which, as far as my knowledge goes,
indicates they were southern Victorian or Tasmanian birds. I thought it was a
bit late in the year to see them passing through Canberra.
John K. Layton
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