In the absence of much in the way of local news I report good progress this morning by the butcherbird family on the Knob. Three fledglings are huddling together in the green depths of a shrubby oak with a fourth (right)
about a metre lower down. Surely, I thought, given the hard conditions, a justifiable occasion for a little mince-flinging. The mince is lightly rolled on the ground beforehand, which is how they seem to like it. The adults catch the mince and store it in
a fork before relaying fragments to the young. The upper fledgling has a grip on the bill of a sibling, expressing the view that the grippee has been fed enough for the time being.
