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| Little Pied Cormorant and Plumed Whistling Duck |
It's that time of year when the Honey Gems really kick into gear and golden nectar heavy blooms drip from their narrow leaved branches. The Jasmine blankets the bushes around the back deck making the air heavy with scent and algae blooms in the back dam turning it an unhealthy if somewhat colourful shade of green. It's the season for Scarlet Honeyeaters, Eastern Spinebills and Silvereyes to be foraging amongst the foliage and the canopy of the gum-trees is busy with the furtive movements of the smaller birds such as Varied Sitella, Golden Whistler and Thornbills.
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| Eastern Spinebill |
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| Eastern Yellow Robin |
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| Scarlet Honeyeater |
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| Grey Fantail |
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| Female Scarlet Honeyeater |
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| Scarlet Honeyeater in the Honey Gem Grevilleas. |
Which is nice as the rest of the world seems to be going to Hell in a hand basket! I find myself increasingly drawn to the latest news and sit in incredulity as I read about Trump, the refusal to accept the science of climate change, personality politics, companies closing their borders and anti-immigration, ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, the burning of forests, the spilling of oil, plastic pollution in our oceans and micro-plastics in our food, the melting in Greenland and tundra fires in Siberia. We elected Trump, Bolsonaro, Duterte, Johnson, and Morrison, how could we? We allow the Monkton's, Hansons, Corbyns, Rees-Moggs, Hannity's and Bannons to shout over us, why do we? I suppose I still believe in little England, that mythical green and pleasant land, in the voices of reason and moderation, in good husbandry and a love of nature. I still believe in science and learning from history, but unlike all those smug little memes on Facebook that celebrate the 'good old days' of bottled milk, scraped knees and a computer free childhood, I am encouraged by the youth of today and it is them that I have hope for the future. Who would have thought that a sixteen year old Swede with Asperger Syndrome would launch an optimism not seen since the heady days of the sixties.
Still, back to the far more important subject of our backyard, we've heard an increasing chorus of deep bass growling as the Koala males broadcast their message the mating season is on.
At the same time Dymple the Peacock's tail leaves us in no doubt about his frame of mind, and the roosters are happily chasing the hens all over the yard,
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| Pepper, Dymple and Spot. |
and the birds seen this month include...
Regulars (Seen daily)
Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove
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| Bar-Shouldered Dove |
Brown Honeyeater
Bush Turkey
Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch
Eastern Spinebill
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| Eastern Spinebill |
Galah
Grey Fantail
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| Grey Fantail |
Laughing Kookaburra
Lewins Honeyeater
Little Corella
Magpie Lark
Noisy Friarbird
Noisy Miner
Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong
Plumed Whistling Duck
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| Plumed Whistling Duck |
Rainbow BeeEater
Rainbow Lorikeet
Leaden Flycatcher
Scarlet Honeyeater
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| Scarlet Honeyeater |
Silvereye
Striated Pardalote
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater
Yellow Faced Honeyeater
Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Eastern Whipbird
Forest Kingfisher
Grey Shrike-Thrush
King Parrot
Little Pied Cormorant
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| Little Pied Cormorant |
Rose Robin
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| Rose Robin |
Varied Sitella
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Brown Goshawk
Eastern Yellow Robin
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| Eastern Yellow Robin |
Golden Whistler
Grey Butcherbird
Hardhead
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| Hardhead |
Leaden Flycatcher
Little Friarbird
Red-browed Finch
Spotted Pardalote
Willy Wagtail
White-throated Treecreeper
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Rare (Seen once)
Brown Thornbill
Little Friarbird
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| Little Friarbird |
Pale-headed Rosella
Scaly Breasted Lorikeet
Top Knot Pigeon
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Yellow Thornbill
Which is 61-species. And your Aussie critter of the month is:
A Northern Bettong courtesy of the Dept. of Environment and Science
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