Updates

 February/March update time.

It's been a while since I posted. I started a new job in late January and that sapped all my spare energy reserves for posting.

But lots has happened and it would be good to record at least general times of year so here we go.

Wedge-tailed eagles

The dates for this is fuzzy in my mind - but probably early Feb/late January. Might even have been before I started my job.

The dead tree outside the treatment plant had WTEs sitting up on the top branches a few mornings in a row. They were there around 8am or so, sometimes they were there on the way out AND on the way back. Two of them - I'm assuming a M-F pair.

View back to the mountain from McConnells Lane

 Australian Hobbies

This is the biggest news. Around Feb 12, we started walking MacConnells lane after dinner each evening as the sun goes down. So back in January that was around 8pm, now it's around 7pm. We get to the top of the lane and turn around, sometimes if it's getting dark we turn around earlier. This means that by the time we get back to the poplar line at the bottom of McC la it's getting pretty dark/dusky. 

Every evening since Feb 12, when we get to that area, sometimes sooner, we see hobbies zooming around hawking insects. It's so amazing to watch. The first time we saw them we thought they might have been peregrines, but when we got back home I had a look in our bird book and realised it might be hobbies - mainly due to the description of their dusk feeding habits. We took the binoculars with us the next night, and one was sitting atop one of the oaks behind the poplar line. Brett took one look and confirmed it as hobbies.

But to watch them hunt! The first few nights they were flying low over the opposite field, which had no cows at the time. The cattle is back now, so they aren't always flying low. Sometimes they are all flying at poplar height or higher, but the acrobatics! There are four of them, one seems larger, perhaps mum, dad and two juvies? They flap fast and gain height, dive and zoom, stall and turn on a pinhead, grab an insect then hold it in their talons and eat it while they stall glide. It's just so beautiful to watch.

Bats

The fruit bats are loud each night at the moment, behind us in the persimmon trees. We didn't think they even looked ripe yet, but from the growling, screaming and arguing each night, I guess they are. We also spotted one flying low along Monash Drive as we returned from our walk one night as it was getting late.

Micro-bats abound though. We see those *every* night walking home, especially in Bailey Street between the trees. Last night we got a really good look at one as it was flying around up at the poplar line on McC la - we hadn't seen them up there before, so that was a real treat.

Peregrine

This is way back in late Jan/early Feb again. There was at least one peregrine hunting over Porepunkah - we heard the galahs going nuts outside, so we wandered out to see what the fuss was. And there they were, flying all around the town in a ragged group, with a peregrine hot on their heels, harrying them all over town for a good couple of minutes. Not sure if there was a kill, but it was definitely trying.

Kingfisher

March 13, we spotted a sacred kingfisher at the bottom of McC la. It flew out across the road in front of us and landed on the gum tree line along the ditch. It hunted there for a while then flew to the fence along the road, then over the road into the garden of the house on the corner.

Bronzewings

We saw the bronzewings on and off for weeks on both sides of the river. Sometimes carrying nesting material, but often on the ground feeding or roosting up in the eucalypts where we park. No evidence of successful breeding, so not sure what happened with them. 

Ducklings

Just yesterday, March 20, we saw a new batch of ducklings on Morses creek. Woodducks certainly seem to have a long season!

Updates to come

There's more, but I'll add to it as I remember. And try to do a Thursday morning update each week, so the dates aren't quite so muddy!