The heat continues

Despite a couple of very light showers the dry and the heat continued unabated. The Met Office keeps throwing out statements about record breaking temperatures and Queensland is now 87% drought declared. It's not been good and I've been spending a good time each evening with a watering can trying to keep the plants alive. Although I'm now settling into the routine of working in Brisbane again, leaving at 6.50 am and getting home at about 6.50 pm, the extra time spent watering the garden and managing the chooks has been taking it out of me. It's been a while since weekends were so looked forward to!  Having said that it means that I'm up each morning letting the chooks out at dawn, a time of day that I've always enjoyed.

The heat is definitely keeping the lizard population active...

Young Eastern Water Dragon

and a fairly large Lace Monitor patrolling the edge of the dam

As I write this, mid-March, the Pardalote Holt drought has finally broken and we've had a couple of days of substantial rain, so I'm a very happy chappie at the moment.  Too late to save the fruit on the lemon tree, but the garden is getting a good soaking. Fingers crossed it will keep going for another few days.

Regulars (seen daily)

Australian Magpie
Common Bronzewing
Galah
Laughing Kookaburra

Laughing Kookaburra

Noisy Friarbird
Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove

Peaceful Doves

Plumed Whistling Duck

Plumed Whistling Duck (with Pacific Black Duck in background) dabbling in the shade of the Thalia.

Rainbow Lorikeet
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
White-throated Honeyeater

Common (seen weekly)

Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater
Double-barred Finch
Forest Kingfisher
Grey Butcherbird
Magpie Lark
Noisy Miner
Spangled Drongo
White-throated Gerygone
Willie Wagtail
Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Uncommon (seen occasionally)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Black-faced Monarch

Crappy shot of a juvenile Black-faced Monarch

Channel-billed Cuckoo
Cicadabird
Crested Pigeon
Eastern Yellow Robin
Golden Whistler
Grey Shrike Thrush

Juvenile Grey Shrike Thrush

King Parrot
Leaden Flycatcher

Female Leaden Flycatcher

Lewins Honeyeater
Little Corella
Little Friarbird
Olive-backed Oriole
Pale-headed Rosella
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong
Rainbow Bee Eater
Satin Flycatcher
Striated Pardalote
Variegated Fairy Wren
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Treecreeper

Rare (seen once)

Grey Fantail
Little Pied Cormorant
Pacific Baza

A young Pacific Baza or Crested Hawk

Red-backed Fairy Wren
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
Wedge-tailed Eagle

Which is back up to 52-species. Not great, but considering that during most of the daylight hours I'm not here I can live with it.