Dear all and Mike Tarburton
My neighbour reported a large flock of Spine-tailed Swifts hawking low
over his property last Tuesday 17th January - this is south of
Gloucester near Craven - GPS - 32 08 12 - 151 54 40.
Today much enjoyed watching a pair of Dollarbirds with their 3
fledglings in the trees behind my house. They are very noisy and
demanding of their parents, who seem quite content to ignore the
complaints and sit watching for any passing insect. The Magpie Larks are
nesting for the third time this season - both taking turns to sit but
she seems to sit more often. Their first nest produced 3 healthy fledged
young, but the next failed after hatching - they fed for a couple of
days, then deserted the nest so presumably something ate the chicks.
Many other birds are around with dependent young, and the Red-browed
Finch are building somewhere near - they collect dead grass heads from
my garden and fly off trailing the long stems behind them. And the frogs
just love this weather.
Meanwhile, I am trying to make sense of my Uganda trip diary - 19th Dec
to 10th Jan. - have got to 5th Jan and over 400 ticks, but others on the
trip got over 500 - those greenbuls, warblers, honeyguides, weavers,
sunbirds, flycatchers and cisticolas - usually at tops of trees, in
deep shade of tropical jungle or flying away fast. The animals were a
relief.
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