A spouse that goes birding with you in 44 deg?
You seem to have won the lottery of life Chris.
Chris Charles
+61412911184
Licole Monopods
http://www.licole.com.au <http://www.licole.com.au/>
> On 15 Jan 2017, at 5:22 pm, Chris Lloyd <> wrote:
>
> Some months ago the idea of a week birding in western NSW seemed like a good
> idea. A warm but pleasant amble down the Lachlan with the caravan brought
> us to Forbes and three booked nights at the CP. Now closer followers of
> ancient rituals and weather forecasts would already have noted some red
> flags. We simply noted that the CP was choka-block and moved straight to
> Gums Swamp. Nothing spectacular but a good collection of old friends and,
> like all the countryside around, plenty of water and greenery. Returning to
> the Park we found an unusual number of men with large black sideburns and
> women sporting some variation of the onesie with sequins. The penny dropped
> when an otherwise perfectly competent string quartet moved from Dublin to
> Memphis while rehearsing in the camp kitchen at the request of the large
> impromptu audience. At this point it was 6pm and a bracing 36° with 38° for
> the following day.
>
>
>
> A day of retail therapy, the library and the hysterical society kept our
> cool until an inevitable return to the van and afternoon of recline in the
> air-con. It was not to be as the combined assault of frig and AC compressors
> brought on a denial of service from the aging circuitry of the Park. Tempers
> flared as much trousers as the system tripped out every half an hour or so.
> There were compensations. For those rooting for the King there was a crooner
> at a battery power mike and for us the delight of warm beer and wine while
> watching the aerobatics of four first year Collared Sparrowhawks intent of
> playing tag with cockies while a brace of White-faced Heron observed both
> phenomena.
>
>
>
> It was with a brave face that we informed Rhinestone cowboys and girls that
> we were headed for the milder climes of Lake Cargelligo. 39° in Condobolin
> made the bitumen toasty for the dog’s pads and a hefty 20 knot
> north-westerly made clothes driers redundant. As we motored along the Valley
> Way to LC the Bureau raised the bar for the following day to 44° and we
> started to consider professional help.
>
>
>
> Then we struck the ephemeral lakes and flooded paddocks. Most of the world’s
> population of Pacific Herons seemed to have descended and around their legs
> wandered Black-winged stilts of all ages, Red-necked Stints, coots, and
> plovers. Overhead in the wind were the Marsh Terns in flocks of dozens while
> all three ibis species strutted their stuff in the greasy water. There was
> nothing new, just thousands of ‘good’ birds loafing or foraging as the whim
> took them. There were stilts on to their third or fourth clutch while the
> previous off-spring wandered around the sitting adults. Ducks and grebes
> seemed to have endless trails of bobbing heads either behind them or on
> their backs. A pair of Plumed-whistlers did not seem to have lost one of
> their near grown brood to the Kites as they wove through a forest of egret
> and spoonbill legs and bills. A quick dash through the furnace blast to the
> water’s edge showed that, what appeared a still surface from three metres
> away was a swirling stew of on algae, insects, fish and crustaceans. It
> might be hot but nobody was going starve.
>
>
>
> Friday lived up to everyone’s expectations and to the 44° nature added a
> powerful north-westerly and thick black clouds to provide an apocalyptic
> edge. Gallons of water and a little bit of German refrigeration engineering
> kept two adults and a small spotted dog from joining their respective makers
> as lunchtime hit the 40 mark and climbing. But nothing stopped the birds. We
> peered in awe out the windows as half a dozen Major Mitchells cartwheeled
> across the park and Peewees and Pied Butcherbirds used the sprinklers to
> assist the luncheon efforts. Two Butcherbirds carried out a full mating
> display of neck pecks and vocals on the wing while their youngster watched
> on. The White-Ibis, using their suburban experience wandered about lawns and
> bins exuding an air of ‘nothing to see here’ as dog and humans cringed under
> wet cotton. The one great saving grace of the west in summer is the evenings
> and despite the mid-forties onslaught by midnight you are reaching for the
> sheet and then the blanket.
>
>
>
> Dawn brought 30 degrees and a south-westerly that brought the ‘feel’ down to
> 25° but with a sun that had the bite of a White Pointer. So it’s off for a
> day along the Lachlan and the lakes. Once again no new birds but who needs
> new birds when thirteen adult Nankeen Herons rise from a water race and
> disport themselves around the trees? Everywhere water moved there were
> fishers dipping a bill in their favourite hole. At the regulator there was a
> line of black and tans in their yellow waders as the water rolled past. No
> one was missing out and even the ill equipped ibis were making a catch. Just
> up river a human family complained they had got little other than carp
> fingerlings.
>
>
>
> The locals were as awe inspiring as the birds as they maintained their
> laconic bonhomie to melting birders and still mowed lawns, welded pipe or
> served customers. Cargelligo again lives up to its reputation as a hot spot
> to bird.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> <HR>
> <BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
> <BR>
> <BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
> <BR> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
> </HR>
<HR>
<BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
<BR>
<BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
<BR> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
</HR>
|
