24 April 2020

68. Wagtails in the Wilderness





I’d been walking near the house, but needed to go further away. Three weeks of staying home meant I had a bit of cabin fever.

12 April 2020

67. Happy Easter Chicks



In a house on a hill on a farm, there’s a garage. In that garage, there’s a nest in a toolbox.

01 April 2020

65. Nest in a Toolbox: Part 2



In my previous post, I said we were in for hard times, for sorrow and sad times. This week I lost my mother, the dearest woman in the world to me.

25 March 2020

64. Nest in a Toolbox


“Life is always a rich and steady time while you are waiting for something to happen or to hatch.” Charlotte’s Web E.B White


This is not a steady time but one of rapid and radical change. 
Even so, I can’t wait for hatch-day.  

It won’t be long, nearly time now.

23 March 2020

63. Seagulls on the Shore



Heading home to the farm again, I start crying in the car. Eyes too clouded to drive, I pull over at a boat landing on Lake Macquarie. 

01 March 2020

62. In a Hurry Honeys




Coming back from a weekend walk, two White-plumed Honeyeaters flew past my ear. Both came close enough for me to hear the wind beneath their wings. In a manic rush to mate and nest, they collide with things like windows and me.

18 February 2020

61. Rainbows in the Rain




Swarms of bees, wasps, hornets and ants surrounded the house last month. Looking to move their hives or nests closer to water, they sent me gaga. 

25 January 2020

60. Perfect Preening



We had a new India Blue Peacock. Mr Popples liked hiding in the back garden; but popped his blue head up every once in a while to surprise me. In the garage he blocked me from driving to work. Demanding food for rite of passage, he became the gatekeeper. The bird was out of favour. Then I saw him preening. 

04 January 2020

59. Saving Baby in the Sink

Mum always says I should start the new year like I mean to continue. The 1st of January 2020 I saved a bird. Not just any bird, but a fledgling of the Pizza-oven bucket-bird I love. If I continue saving birds for 1% of the next 9 years and 364 days, I’ll be happy.

31 December 2019

58. The Bird Who Saved Christmas



I usually love Christmas. This year there’s been a smoke cloud over the season to be jolly. Bushfires on or near our farm meant I didn’t look forward to the day; no cooking or decorating either. Instead, I worried and made myself miserable. The Christmas spirit never hit.

23 December 2019

57. Fire, Smoke, Birds and Beasts




A thunderstorm on December 10th produced no rain. Bolts of lightning struck the ground and 4 fires started instead. Twelve days on, 2 bushfires are still blazing with no sign of when they’ll be put out. It might be months.