It’s a great year for mozzies. This week they seem to have all metamorphosed from wrigglers at once, and for the first time we have had to start putting the mosquito net over our bed down of a night. Up until now, the control measures for mozzies have consisted of what we don’t do.
Can you see her? This fig bird and her mate have built a nest in the pecan tree just metres from our verandah. Males and females are supposed to take turns sitting but she seems to have been doing more than her fair share. The nest has been riotously buffeted in a big storm, the noisy minors have taken noisy offense to the gentrification of the area, a goanna has…
Spotted on my morning walk, a fine fat fellow looking very relaxed in a tree right next to our driveway. It is easy to imagine if you live in a city that wildlife is happily safely securely flourishing “somewhere else”. You hear about extinctions but maybe you don’t get just how profound it is.
We have a star bath. It’s a heavy cast iron bath in a very unfashionable shade of green with a fireplace under it. It sits out in the open with a clear view of the wide starry sky, and on cold winters nights we fill it up and light a fire under it. A glass of wine, a candle, a hot bath that stays hot for as long as you…
This morning, lying in bed with my cup of coffee (yes, I get coffee in bed every morning), a mother antechinus ran along the window ledge with four babies clinging to her back, and dropped them into my handbag. A few minutes later, she was back with another lot, and another. In total, there were twelve babies, dropped into my bag. And she was off. Handbag day care.
Outside my bedroom window.
I so love the way the whole gaggle take on responsibility for the goslings. The adults stand guard, watching in every direction while the babies graze. Trevor (the big white male on the right) goes mental if you pick up a baby. He has no real weaponry – no fangs or claws – but he knows his role is to protect them. Jackie, in the middle, sat on the eggs,…