Happy Holidays!
First of all: I wish you all a joyous and peaceful Christmas, and safe journeys for those who are travelling. Okay, that's the sensible bit over, I wish you loads of expensive presents, a lotto win, and an around-the-world trip! YES?
Okay, let's start with the birds. No, let's start with yesterday's Hot Blast from Hell: 41C here at Nairne/MtB, 42C in Adelaide, 46C in Tarcoola. Yep, horrible. Thankfully, today is much cooler, and it really tried to rain earlier. Yes, we counted the drops, unfortunately.
NOW to the bird report: MtBS was closed yesterday because of fire danger, but a walk around the back streets of Nairne brought a surprising haul of birds considering the weather and the lack of forest (farmland, houses). Saw thornbills (not sure which variety), rosellas, raven, North Road Willie Wagtail, fantail (heard), and SAW a grey shrike-thrush who was determined to bash the brains out of a seed-pod on the roadway and yes, thank you, I could walk around it and get out of its way (I apologised). Oh, and just the last few days, I've had RBFs into my b-baths at home: now THAT'S hard to take (not).
MtBS has been a mix - depending on the weather (again) and which track I'm on. On Friday, the Fire Track produced fantails, striated thornbills, RBFs, wrens, y/f h/es, and heard babblers, GWs and kookas. Saturday and today (Monday), the circuit/summit/road tracks brought quite a few batches of inquisitive wrens (plus a tiny baby wren with a tail about 3mm long - how cute is that?), fantails, galahs, sulphur-crested cockatoos, Adelaide rosellas, magpies, thornbills (yellow-rumped and striated), Mrs GW (who whistled me a Merry Christmas at eyeball level - amazing!), saw/heard grey shrike-thrush, spineys, b/f cuckoo-shrikes, currawongs, pardies, a heap of butterflies (trying to learn their species), AND I had to wait for a kangaroo to hop off the road. NOT BAD!
Writing this week: Not as productive as I'd hoped as I had phone problems AGAIN(!) and it's gone back to Optus to be fixed. Not happy. I've started planning the second Albert Finemore book, and ordered a couple of books to help me locate the right place in Cumbria. Didn't get to the agents/publishers letter - will nail that by Sunday at the latest.
Websites: I've started the changes to my Weebly pages; I'll work on that in the early mornings. I've already ordered my "Quotation Corner" - hope you enjoy it. I'll add all the links over the next few days.
Reviews: Writing that review - will post it by Sunday.
And I'm looking forward to a couple of films: "The Hobbit" due for release here on Wednesday (I'll wait a couple of weeks for the queues to thin out) and "Les Mis" - with the wonderful Hugh Jackman (a good reason to see any film). Oh and Bond, of course.
Yours in writing
Bo
x
First of all: I wish you all a joyous and peaceful Christmas, and safe journeys for those who are travelling. Okay, that's the sensible bit over, I wish you loads of expensive presents, a lotto win, and an around-the-world trip! YES?
Okay, let's start with the birds. No, let's start with yesterday's Hot Blast from Hell: 41C here at Nairne/MtB, 42C in Adelaide, 46C in Tarcoola. Yep, horrible. Thankfully, today is much cooler, and it really tried to rain earlier. Yes, we counted the drops, unfortunately.
NOW to the bird report: MtBS was closed yesterday because of fire danger, but a walk around the back streets of Nairne brought a surprising haul of birds considering the weather and the lack of forest (farmland, houses). Saw thornbills (not sure which variety), rosellas, raven, North Road Willie Wagtail, fantail (heard), and SAW a grey shrike-thrush who was determined to bash the brains out of a seed-pod on the roadway and yes, thank you, I could walk around it and get out of its way (I apologised). Oh, and just the last few days, I've had RBFs into my b-baths at home: now THAT'S hard to take (not).
MtBS has been a mix - depending on the weather (again) and which track I'm on. On Friday, the Fire Track produced fantails, striated thornbills, RBFs, wrens, y/f h/es, and heard babblers, GWs and kookas. Saturday and today (Monday), the circuit/summit/road tracks brought quite a few batches of inquisitive wrens (plus a tiny baby wren with a tail about 3mm long - how cute is that?), fantails, galahs, sulphur-crested cockatoos, Adelaide rosellas, magpies, thornbills (yellow-rumped and striated), Mrs GW (who whistled me a Merry Christmas at eyeball level - amazing!), saw/heard grey shrike-thrush, spineys, b/f cuckoo-shrikes, currawongs, pardies, a heap of butterflies (trying to learn their species), AND I had to wait for a kangaroo to hop off the road. NOT BAD!
Writing this week: Not as productive as I'd hoped as I had phone problems AGAIN(!) and it's gone back to Optus to be fixed. Not happy. I've started planning the second Albert Finemore book, and ordered a couple of books to help me locate the right place in Cumbria. Didn't get to the agents/publishers letter - will nail that by Sunday at the latest.
Websites: I've started the changes to my Weebly pages; I'll work on that in the early mornings. I've already ordered my "Quotation Corner" - hope you enjoy it. I'll add all the links over the next few days.
Reviews: Writing that review - will post it by Sunday.
And I'm looking forward to a couple of films: "The Hobbit" due for release here on Wednesday (I'll wait a couple of weeks for the queues to thin out) and "Les Mis" - with the wonderful Hugh Jackman (a good reason to see any film). Oh and Bond, of course.
Yours in writing
Bo
x
