Back at last from an over-long trip away and, as ever, very pleased to be home.
Many thanks to Michael Wood who stayed here while we were away and maintained
the monthly listing of birds that we've been undertaking here since 1988 -
adding a couple of records of Budgerigars in June - spp 218 on the house list.
Spring has taken hold around the Lockyer Valley, lots of nesting going on, and
Horsfield's, Shining and Little Bronze-Cuckoos all seen and heard in the garden
over the last few days.
Eastern Ospreys returned here a couple of years ago, after an absence of seven
years, and have been seen here most months since , but on Sunday 4th August we
had two birds here together for the first time.
White-backed Swallows were practically a daily bird here through the 1980s and
early 90s and eventually petered out from our house list in 2004 - the same
year that we lost the Ospreys.
On Monday last, Eileen and I were feeling like a break mid-morning and we set
up a couple of outdoor recliners on the main verandah mainly with a view to
watching the treetops at leisure. Several raptors came by, multi-honeyeaters in
the treetops, hordes of Fairy Martins, a small group of Rainbow Bee-eaters
landed in a dead tree across the creek - THEN, elegance personified, one
striking White-backed Swallow glided straight past us from upstream and over
(or under) the bridge on Flagstone Creek Road.
Well, I saw one - Eileen reckons there were two!
So, exciting to be home - don't feel like going anywhere for a while.
Bill Jolly
Abberton, Helidon, Qld
(27º 34' 21' S;
152º 08' 21' E)
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