BUNDANOON HAS FIFTEEN PERCENT OF AUSTRALIA'S BIRDS

A Cattle Egret did it. A lone, lowly Cattle Egret. The egret was spied near feeding horses, on a paddock between Shangri-La Rd and a major dam that hosts grebes and Musk Ducks, at midday today, in icy conditions. This egret has now brought my Bundanoon bird list to one-hundred and twenty species.

That number equals fifteen percent of Australia's bird species, if we solely consider the species found on the mainland and Tasmania (not the vagrant or rare species found sporadically on outlying islands, seas and reefs at the limits of Australia's territory). This percentage is based on numbers from a Birds Australia communications and research guy, who emailed me last November; I've mentioned this person before.

So, impressive stuff for a little town and something to be bloody proud of! This one-hundred and twenty have been unearthed within about five square kilometres.

A while ago, I posted the birds bringing the town's total to one-hundred and ten species. Here are the additional species bringing the new total to one-hundred and twenty...

Buff-banded Rail
Chestnut-rumped Heathwren
White-bellied Sea-eagle
Spotted Turtle-dove
Flame Robin
European Goldfinch
Hoary-headed Grebe
Barn Owl
White-headed Pigeon
Brush Cuckoo
Cattle Egret

And I'm sure there will be many more birds to come. Rose Robin, Little Bittern, Jacky Winter, White-eared Honeyeater, Origma, Glossy Black-cockatoo, Grey Currawong, Common Bronzewing and Brown Quail are some of the species other Bundy locals and visiting birders have found. They're yet to land on my binoculars!

LJ, June 13 2011.

DREAMS OF DINGOES

I was down at Dimmocks Creek early this arvo. I'd never ventured down there before - what a stunning spot. I took a photo of canine paw prints in mud underneath a sandstone overhang. Could they be dingo prints? I doubt it. They probably belong to a local dog; someone may have been walking their pet labradoodlespoodlebadoodlecockadoodledoo (totally forgetting - or not caring - that they're within a national park).

Still, one can dream of primitive dogs, derived from Gray Wolves, brought to Oz some four-thousand years ago, can't they?

LJ, June 11 2011.

NEW WOMBAT SIGN

My sincere thanks to councillor, social activist and environmental campaigner Larry Whipper, as well as those peers of his at Wingecarribee Council, who helped back my proposal for a wombat sign on the Exeter side of Bundanoon. The new sign was erected a few days back and positioned well. Hopefully, motorists will slow down a little coming into town and a few wombats will be saved as a consequence.

LJ, June 10 2011.

MISCELLANY

1. It's winter. May there be snow. In July. Perhaps when the day wants anything but predictability.

2. I approached Fairy Bower Falls from a different access point this morning. The world enveloping this path to the Falls was ringing with water. Each boulder passed seemed an event (I'm such a sucker for boulders, particularly those wearing feathery moss; I'd love to see the birth of one). The terrain seems inviting for Greater, and maybe Yellow-belled, Gliders.

3. Is there much more satisfying than cleaving wood cleanly with a new axe?

4. Woodsmoke from our chimney often blurs into one with open galaxy.

5. There were Brown-headed Honeyeaters down at Gambells Rest today. I love their weird grating/mechanical calls. The call lies somewhere between a woodswallow's and a cicada's. No other bird around here sounds like them.

6. Our imported trees have become skeletons; our natives are grand survival totems.

7. The Origma is still an enigma.

8. I now greet my car (circa 6:30am, when work-bound) whilst holding a kettle filled with warm water and the look of a man who only wants to dance with the dawn.

9. Forget arrows of desire and chariots of fire... bring me my one-hundred and twentieth bird for Bundanoon!

LJ, June 5 2011