WAKING IN THE ICE AGE

I awoke at 6am to find a grinning full moon, moonlight spilled all over the backyard, a sun playing hide and seek, diluted pink-cyan skies, minus four degrees and ice smothering my Hyundai. I'm sure I heard a bunch of Mammoths trumpeting and yawping from the other side of the railway line. LJ, July 25 2013.

3 DEAD WOMBATS AS YOU COME INTO TOWN

Right now, there are 3 dead wombats close to the yellow 'watch out for wombats' sign I had the council erect some time ago. The absolute, irrefutable definition of irony! The absolute, irrefutable definition of waste. Welcome to Bundanoon, home of dead wombats. Embarrassing, isn't it? Again, I'll say it - motorists need to slow right down. Luckily, the animals aren't endangered. Still, I wonder how these deaths (let's say, one a fortnight on average) are affecting the overall population of wombats in the area. Probably not dramatically. I'd like to see weeks go by without a wombat being whacked by a car. Let's see if this can happen... LJ, July 25 2013.

OUT IN THE OPEN

Late yesterday, 2 Bassian Thrushes were feeding out in the open by Coalmines Road, two hundred metres or so before you come to Santi Forest Monastery (I love that name). Bassian Thrushes are usually found in dense wet sclerophyll forest/rainforest where there's a lot of leaf litter and a distinct canopy, so seeing them between pines, on well-maintained grass, near a driveway and road, was somewhat surprising. It's always cool spying these cryptic, wary birds. Their feeding habits reminded me of a Blackbird's; they run like a quail-thrush, or a quail. LJ, July 14 2013.

FALCONS!

Finally, a Brown Falcon for my Bundy list (no. 154). About bloody time. A single bird was cruising and weaving extremely high over home today (the erratic flight threw me somewhat). With the naked eye, the bird looked like a silver balloon. Its rufous/brown/white underside was distinct through the nocs. I've never seen a BF at that height before. I'm most surprised it's taken me close to 3 years to find a BF in my hometown, as I've seen them in several Southern Highlands locations before... Forty-five minutes after seeing the BF, 2 Peregrine Falcons shot over home, one letting out a clear 'kek kek kek kek'; most probably the same pair of birds I saw at the end of Greasons Rd yesterday. Ah, a day with falcons is a day in heaven. The Grey, Black, Brown and Peregrine are my very favourite Australian birds. LJ, July 2013.

4 BLUE-BILLED DUCKS AT THE PENROSE END OF TOWN

Blue-billed Ducks are birds I've only seen on three or four occasions since beginning birding seriously in the late 80s. They aren't easy to find. Thus, I was stoked to find four BBDs on water off Shangri la Rd, yesterday, at dusk. The birds seemed identical, with a male in eclipse plumage (meaning it was missing its distinctive blue bill and chestnut feathers). The foursome were busily diving, feeding, cruising. Bird 153 for town. LJ, July 5 2013.