The swallows have had more babies since my last post .It’s really swallow heaven here as there are so many small flying insects for them to feed on.

The 2  plover chicks that hatched got moved by mum down to the river bank. They tuck them in under their wing and off they go.They were down there for a couple of days then she moved them again to higher ground close to were she had the nest. One got preyed on by something, we think a goanna , the surviving one is growing fast and hopefully soon be flying.Both mum & dad are vigilant so hope they are successful with this offspring.

The baby tawny grew fast.His feathers were in great condition and tail feathers long enough for balance during flight.

saying goodbye to Deep Throat

Deep Throat released. Holding a strip of support food in his beak.

He was released last week.We put him into the big apple gum tree in the house paddock after a good feed at dusk.He stayed there for a couple of hours then flew into a tree over the vegetable patch .In the morning he was gone. We like them to stay around for a few days so we can give some support food and watch their progress.That night while sitting out giving Billy his evening bottle I heard him .Larry found him in a tree over hanging the flight aviary .He wasn’t alone , another tawny the same size was there also.! Larry set up a ladder and went up and gave him a couple of heart strips rolled in insectivore which he took gratefully then flew off. The next morning there he was looking like a twig as every good tawny should by day. He disappeared early afternoon when the sun got to hot there and we haven’t seen  him since but am sure he is doing fine.

clever Deep Throat being a twig next morning after release

Galy is flying beautifully and has put on weight. We have had some galahs coming around which is good. We have rain at the moment ,which everyone in these parts is grateful for but as soon at that has gone and the sun is out again we will release him.(yes, he is boy as he has brown eyes)

The cockatiels ‘Young Fu” and “Lady” have mated and we can see a 2 young babies have hatched in the nest which is in a log. These cockatiels can’t be released as they are breed birds that were lost or surrendered but we didn’t expect them to be so happy in the flight aviary they would start breeding. “Young Fu” was the baby born last year to “Chu” and “Mani”  and “Lady” was bought here about 6 mths  by a friend who got her from someone living in Swansea.She only has 1 eye but she is happy and healthy.

Unfortunately the 2 magpies failed to thrive and it was obvious they had a congenital defect so had to be euthanased.

Larry releasing Moses

I’m free!

Moses the red-neck grew very well and he is now released and has buddied up with 3 residents all about his age. They visit morning and evening and Moses would take his bottle from me but has decided in the last couple of days he no longer needs milk formula. He looks great and it’s so good to see him bounding around with the others .I always feel very sad for the little ones when their mums get run over.Red-neck wallabies are much smaller than grey kangaroos and only have to be in care till they are about 5 kilos. They mature much quicker than a grey kangaroo. Moses was ready to be released at 4 kilos as he was older when I was asked to take him, weighing 2200 grams and had lessons from his mum about how to behave. I had to assess if it was better to keep him locked up longer and give him milk formula longer or if the stress would be detrimental to him. I decided to go for release and he decided I was O.K. and kept coming to me for his milk while he wanted it so it was a good call. Back yard carers would need to keep these animals in care longer than we would as they don’t have the wild ones living around them as they do here and coming to the house paddock grazing around the house.

There’s that baby Billy!

Billy has settled down and is now growing at a good rate. He is lucky he has Bucky and Bronte living here as he grazes with them every day. He is to little to be out alone and he would be with his mum for about another 12mths .He would be in and out of her pouch at the moment .He sleeps with me at night but that won’t be for much longer as he will want to graze by night soon.

Moses (front left) and friends

wood duck family – dad left -mum eating & 6 babies!

The wood ducks having been having babies down by the river. This family are now regular visitors.

BOZO UPDATE

BIG Bozo and little Moses

My favourite Bozo, has left home ……….  He started going off for a night here and there about 3 months ago then he went for 4 nights then a night here and there again .He has been gone for 12 days now .His sexual hormones were in swing so hopefully he is sowing his wild oats like a real kangaroo and nothing bad has happened to him. Larry reckons he spotted him over at Vicki’s, (our neighbours property) possible as he knows his way all around. Lots of greys around here. Anyway maybe he will visit so I know he is O.K. Must be great for him doing what he’s meant to and being with his own kind, hopefully  that’s the case and if so he will eventually turn up to see us. My friend Bunny was visiting a couple of weeks ago.She used to nurse him when he was a baby and I took these photos of him with her.You can see how big he is ,he would be at least 24kilos and is 2 years and 3 mths old.

BIG Bozo with Bunny

Really good news , a definite sighting of Bozo this morning in our far paddock with a small group of 6. Bucko and Bronte were also in that paddock having a graze.Bozo saw and recognized them.He went over to say “Hi” and they went off with him back to the small group and they all hopped off. Will be interesting to see what transpires from here. Maybe they will stay together.If that happens I’ll have to try to get a little mate for Billy as the “Big Guns” won’t be here everyday for him to graze with.He does graze with all the red-necks but be good for him to have a grey mate. I always worried about Bozo being on his own .It was a long road ! I was told by “experienced ” back yard carers that he wouldn’t be able to join a group and I should give him away…….. I wouldn’t dream of taking a macropod way from this environment and putting it in  a backyard! Anyway it appears that has been proved wrong! It can be done if you are willing to take the time and make some sacrifices……sleeping outside for months so the young one (not locked up) can graze at night without fear!! It was a long road…….

Another development  – I just got called outside to see what was going on.Bronte and Bucky are back and have with them a large young  buck which we think must be from that group Bozo is with. He came down into the yard in front of the house and was eating some grain with them. He took off once he knew we were all watching. It will be interesting to see what happens next. A couple of weeks ago  there was a buck hanging around here interested in Bronte.Maybe it’s the same one and that’s how Bozo has come to join that group (I suspect a small group of young horny bucks! ) Maybe Bronte has a jelly bean in her  pouch and will start her own mob here.

Spring is here ,or is summer? The weather is erratic, very hot the last few days but it was still chilly in the mornings and evenings 2 week ago. Suddenly very hot again and wild winds.

Our hearts go out to the people who have had the terrible fires around them and lost homes. We feel very sad for the young chopper pilot,and his family. who lost his life helping others,  We have been lucky so far and haven’t had to go through a fire and we are so grateful to all the brave people who go out and risk their own lives to help others. Larry has installed a very good water supply system . The fire department have now made our property a static water supply source and helipad  and  have it marked on the satellite in case of it having to be used.

The snakes and goannas are about once more .It’s a race to the chicken pen to get the eggs before the resident goanna ,he often beats us.

The swallows have been born again. They made 4 nests round the house this year and it’s always great to watch them raising their young and watching them leave the nest with perfect flight.

The willie wagtails made their usual nest  and their young are also out. The parents are vigilant and have no fear of the bigger birds giving them a good telling off if they come to close to the young flyers.

2 plover chicks hatch

The resident plovers have had babies.3 eggs were laid in the house paddock,2 hatched. Mum moved them away down to the river bank where she had them pecking in the muddy bank teaching them  how to eat. dad was on a look out a lot and they must have decided that was to exposed as she has now moved them again to another spot higher up from the river and down the road. We are looking forward to seeing them come home with the proud parents.

We have a baby tawny frogmouth in care who I have named not very originally “deep throat” .Those of you who have seen a tawny open wide for a mouse will understand why. He calls constantly when I walk past his cage so he also gets called “pig, hog, guts” not very nice I know but I don’t know where he puts all the food.

cheeky tawny chick

It is ideal to bring more than one tawny up together but that’s not always possible. This one we have fell from a nest in a public school and the nest was up to high for him to be put back.  Adult Tawny’s that  come into care over will not self feed but are quite happy to perch and just open their large mouth at dawn and dusk and swallow the easy meal. In the wild they catch and kill their prey before swallowing. Tawny’s love mice and day old chicks. Fortunately strips of heart rolled in insectivore  are a good nutritious diet for them also. They also eat frogs, lizards, cockroaches, small beetles and grasshoppers. Tawny frogmouths have very sensitive feathers and must be kept in a cage covered on the inside with shade cloth to prevent damage (as their flight must be 100% for survival) and the same applies when they are moved into the aviary before release.

poor galah

We have a young Gala who was probably just learning to fly and had an awful collision.When we picked him up from Muswellbrook he was in a bad way. He had no visible breaks ,wings looked good  but he was unable to stand up right even though his claws were gripping. He couldn’t crack seed so we gave him a special wet food, using a spoon shaped into an adults beak, that is used for rearing seed eaters. It was very hard to get him to take anything as his swallowing capabilities were very much diminished. He had a rasping which seemed to be coming from the chest area. We decided that he  had sustained neurological damage  when he collided and probably had a spine injury but without an x-ray impossible to really know and to what degree. We put him on a course of antibiotics for 7 days which worked wonders. He began to crack his seed and eat up big time. He was able to grip the perch but when on the ground could only stand by balancing by holding with his beak on the cage wire, very smart. Within about 4 days we could see he was improving little by little so we moved him into a larger cage so he could exercise more . He is now in an aviary .His legs are working and he is trying very hard to get his flight. He is doing well , but unable to get height but I’m sure that will come .Larry has named him “Galy” and taken on his rehab care . Thanks to our bird vet Alex Rosenwax and his staff in Sydney who we worked with very closely and tried to learn as much as we could we have able to get this bird so far. I hope I will able to post a good news update of him in flight soon.

Larry with Galy “wing exercise”

gala now

We have a magpie who was a baby on intake .I don’t know what the background was but he is now a juvenile and starting to self feed and fly around the aviary so he will be free soon. As soon as a magpie ,currawong or raven come into care we dose them for gape worm which they usually have .It was the foremost reason we would get  from a new carer saying they had a

magpie asking for food

bird that wouldn’t eat. You can often see the gape worm in their throat. Once they have been dosed they usually start eating well.

We actually went to Muswellbrook after a call from Wildlife Aid asking if we could take a juvenile red-neck wallaby whose mother had been killed and a baby eastern grey kangaroo with the same story. The birds were landed on us when we got there as they don’t have many bird carers. We were happy to be

able to help.

Moses in his bag

The juvenile red-neck wallaby “Moses” was almost  3 kilo on intake .That’s really out of pouch for red-neck but still drinking milk from mum. That’s a very difficult age to get a red-neck to bond with the carer and not be scared. We have managed to get him to a point where he will take his milk sometimes in his pouch but more often just standing but unfortunately we have to keep him penned for his own survival.

Moses is a beautiful boy

He has had a good weight gain so far so won’t be to long and he can go free. He is just  a bit young to go without milk yet. We have a lot of young red-necks that come to the house paddock for a supplementary grain feed so he will be fine .You might remember “Baba” whose mum was very old and she died here  when he was not much bigger than “Moses”. He  is still around and has doubled in size. He comes for some grain nearly every day and he is now getting a lot more confident around us.

Billy in his bag

The baby eastern grey kangaroo “Billy” was not well when he cam home with us. I don’t know how long he was alone before rescue . He has been given what he needed and  is now thriving .He will follow me around, and also likes to be with Larry and get in way,  so he gets to have lots of  exercise to make sure his legs grow strong. Hopefully I will get a call to say there is one his age needing care and he will have a friend soon.

Billy out having a graze aprox age 7mths

For those of you that followed “Bozo” growing up he is now in excess of   24 kilo . He still hangs around on the back veranda but goes off for some time . He has been gone for up to 4 days and nights and sometimes a day and night .He is now about 2 years 2 months old so beginning to come into some sexual maturity .Eastern grey bucks don’t mate till they 4 years old but he’s started sowing his wild oats. My niece said she hopes he stays away from drugs and crime !!

It’s been a while since I posted an update.

I have not been as motivated as I usually am.My dear nephew and friend Paul, without  whose help this site would never have come about,was diagnosed  with leukaemia last year and sadly  he passed away on the 11th of Aug.

My nephew Paul in 2003

Paul was an honorable man.He had no interest in material possessions, other than what he really needed  and  no interest in making a lot of  money ,only what he needed to get by.He loved the coast and the bush and had a great desire to return to his native land of New Zealand but time ran out for him.He cared about the environment and could never understand why economists couldn’t recognise that it shouldn’t be a competition between the two, simply a must if future generations were to have any quality of life.He influenced me to believe in what I thought was important .He disliked living in Sydney but  circumstances dictated that he did . His selfless choices were made in favour of others that he cared for.

A coastal walk with a stop for lunch – 2002

Paul came to Australia in his early twenties and having him around was fabulous.He was  an arts student and when he graduated won a scholarship to the USA for a year. He became interested in  IT. .About 20 years ago he turned up at my place in Coogee where I lived and had my business “Christina’s Costumes” .He put an old desk top computer and screen on the dinning room table ,showed me the on/off button and told me I better get with it as anyone in business had to be online or get left behind! He developed my website ,the only one of it’s kind as I don’t know of anyone else who does costume hire online. When I moved to the property permanently in early 2011 he was beginning to rewrite the codes to bring it up to date and solely web based but unfortunately became ill and could no longer work. I have that site now being upgraded and almost ready for launch as I did not want to see all Paul’s years of developing the site wasted.I also desperately need to try and earn some money to keep the refuge going. Paul did lots of visits with us to the property which was purchased in 1998 and gazetted in 2008.

explaining to his daughter Eva about the importance of protecting our native animals

baby sitting a juvenile wombat in 2003

I miss Paul, talking to him ,exchanging ideas and listening to his very unique view on many things.If there more people that needed such a little we could sustain a much more environmentally friendly way of life. After the funeral service I was talking with friend of Paul’s I hadn’t seen for a few years as he had moved interstate.I told him I often inquired after him and he said likewise.He told me that Paul had said I had moved into the bush and was living “off the grid” .He said Paul was very proud of me.It was such a nice thing to hear and it will stay with me forever  and motivate me to keep going here .Paul grew an avocado tree from a seed quite a few years ago and he gave it to Larry to plant up here  .He thought the possums might like an avo or two! It’s very hard to sprout a plant  from a seed.I have tried several times. About a week after Paul died the tree showed us it’s first avocados. Small grape size but I’m sure they will be huge in the future! Early this year I secured a grant for the purchase of native shrubs and Casuarina trees to plant here.They are arriving this month so we will be busy.They will all be planted for Paul.

Paul would have been 50 today. Thanks for enriching my life.

Paul, Larry and me chatting on the back veranda Xmas 2004

Paul with cousin Annaliese and daughter Eva at the property for Xmas 2002

Paul’s avocado tree

Last week I went to Sydney for a week. Larry and son Scott looked after the roos .Scott enjoyed feeding Bozo sitting in a chair in the large paddock next to the house paddock. This proved to be a good move as in the late afternoon a mob of greys can be seen in the distance on the far side of the paddock. One afternoon after Bozo had finished his bottle Scott called Larry to come and take a look. Bozo had hopped over to the greys then hopped on into the centre of the mob and begun grazing without a care in the world! Bronte and Bucky also went but stayed on the fringe. All the manuals say that a buck will not be accepted into a mixed mob so this was indeed a surprise. Obviously Bozo knows these greys and has been seeing them at night for some time. The morning after I returned Bozo didn’t turn up for his early morning milk. He has stopped drinking as much in the morning so he is probably starting to wean himself off. There are conflicting views about when a grey roo should be weaned. In the wild they drink up to 18-19 months of age so I don’t see why we should to do any different if the joey still wants to drink.

big healthy Bozo now aprox 16 – 17mths old

We waited to see if Bozo would return .It got to 12pm .Larry was more worried than me. I think Bozo is a strong young buck who can run very fast but if alone he could be crept up on by a group of wild dogs .Eventually  I went off to look around in case he was lying somewhere injured or dead. I got to the edge of the large paddock where there is an open gate and a bank with long growth which goes down to the river. I was calling “Bozo” and the next thing he hops up from the bank to the top but  the other greys he was resting and grazing with got scared and hopped off down the bank ,across the river and away . Bozo was upset and looking for them .Needless to say I felt awful but it was to late. He came back home with me . I am now waiting and hoping it happens again soon .I’m sure it will.

early morning workout

What is very interesting it appears that  depending where you raise a buck ,even alone, he maybe able to join a mixed mob after all. I guess not many carers are lucky enough or want to live in the type of surroundings we do.

If you have been following my blog you will remember “The Fatty Family”.

Fatty & Mama relaxing in the afternoon sun

Mama was a very old red – neck wallaby who had a baby that came out of the pouch about 4 months  ago. Fatty, Mama and Baba where constantly together although Baba would run around full of energy and often stay on his/her own for some time before appearing again. We think maybe a little girl as very independent. Mama seemed to be waning and we suspected she was going downhill quite quickly. Having the baby must have been hard on her but she was a great mother and taught her baby well.

Last image of Mama & Baba together

Mama knew she was waning and she never left our house paddock for about a fortnight before she died. We thought she felt save here and knew it was good space for Baba.The week before I went to Sydney we found Mama dead in our old shed. She was lying down peacefully as though she had chosen that place. Fatty is now on his own but lots of other red-necks around.We see him every day. We were always told they are solitary, and they mostly are  although they congregate quite close to each other in some areas. Living here has shown us some different behaviours. Baba comes morning and evening and has a supplementary feed of special grain.

Baba alone

We wish we could give Baba some milk formula but there is no way  we can get close enough .The trauma of capturing Baba would be too much and we think she is doing fine and growing well. There is another red-necked female “Josie” who has a  baby in pouch ,head out grazing.Josie seems quite comfortable to have Baba sticking close by with her.

I have also read and been told that this doesn’t happen…….We think Mama was quite likely mother and grandmother to many of our resident red-necks.

Josie and Baba

Josie looking after Baba. Notice her bulging pouch. We often see head and legs sticking out!

Some time ago I applied for grant to purchase some native plants. Bird attracting shrubs which are endemic to this area and some Casuarina Trees for the endangered Casuarina Cockatoos who only eat those nuts.

casuarina cockatoos feeding on a small casuarina tree in our house paddock

I am very pleased to say I got the grant and planting will begin in the spring. The native shrubs will keep the pest flora from re growing. We are also looking at planting in some native grasses into areas as we clear them of pest flora. Scott Lily from Wollar Nursery will be supplying the plants and is also our advisor .He is also an advisor for NPWS .

I tried for a long time when Bozo was younger through some of the wildlife groups to locate some eastern grey kangaroos that were the same age that I could take into care to give him some buddies and create a mob.

Bozo – still cute
9 -10mths old

Eastern grey kangaroos live in mobs of varying sizes. We are surrounded by them ,lots of mobs but they are very nervous of humans and it’s impossible to get close to them before they all hop off .Some are small mobs of just boys “bucks” and some are large mobs of bucks, girls “does” , youngsters at heel “joeys” ,and babies still in pouch. A lone buck will not be accepted into a mixed mob but could join a group of bucks if there is a suitable group around. Does are welcome to join a mob. Despite my efforts I couldn’t convince anyone to part with some kangaroos at the time. About 2 months ago I made contact with Julie & Brad Smith who run the “Wildlife Aid” group in Muswellbrook .They invited Larry and me over to visit them so we did. It was such a pleasure to see the dedication there.

Julie’s backyard

Julie’s babies

They then came out to our place and liked what they found .They decided to give us one of their female greys “Bronte” about the same age as Bozo.

Bozo & Bronte

We had to lock Bronte up initially to get her used to being here and let her get to know Bozo. She didn’t like been locked up and Larry wasn’t happy about it so after the 2nd night he left her free. We couldn’t find her the next morning but thought she would return .After 4 nights there was still no sign of her and as she had already weaned off milk we thought she had joined up with one of the mobs. Julie and Brad had a buck a bit younger than Bozo still drinking milk so decided we could bring him here. He and Bozo were introduced to each other and we thought after a few days they would bond. Then the next day, much to our delight, Bronte returned. As Bucky had been around her for sometime previous he decided to stick to her like glue .We think he treats her like a substitute mum even though he takes his morning and evening milk from us.

Larry feeding Bucky with Bozo and Bronte

Bucky was found on one of the mining roads in Muswellbrook , his mother had been run over and killed. He is quite a nervous little fellow. Bozo likes both Bronte and Bucko but he doesn’t hangout with them as during the day as he likes his veranda. He goes off in the evening between 7-9pm .Maybe meets up with them at night , but we don’t know. They all arrive back about the same time in the morning about 6am.Bucky won’t spa with Bozo as Bozo
frightens him with his giant clodhoppers .Bozo spas with us, with me for
about an 1/2 hour every morning and he gets Larry when ever he can! The other morning I saw a very big buck not far from the house looking up this way. He had a couple of other bucks with him so maybe Bozo is meeting up with them by night. Either way he seems fine and I’m sure when he weans off his milk (hopefully soon) and starts to get some sexual maturity he will start spending more time away from the comforts of veranda! Another of my sisters visited a while back and Bozo liked her immediately, just the same as he did with Helen. He doesn’t take to people just like that so I think there must be a similar smell between siblings which is recognised by some animals who likes having aunts to spoil them!

afternoon nap

My sister Andriani with Bozo

cheeky Bozo sneaked into the kitchen!

my friend Bunny feeding Bozo

When Bozo was younger I used to take him into town. My friend Bunny would roo sit while I did my shopping. She would feed Bozo and give him lots of TLC so she is a favourite also!

Bozo loves his substitute mum

originally  posted June 15th  2013

Girlie has done really well. Her fight feathers have grown beautifully and she has had a significant weight gain. from intake of 180grams she is now 194grams.An adult is from aprox 200-250grams.We released her today. She will probably stay around the house paddock for a few days and we will be able to provide some support food until she joins a flock and takes off with them.

flight feathers growing

Looking good

Girlie released
Can you see her way up!?

originally  posted may 2nd  2013

A few weeks ago we got a call from the Merriwa vet asking if we could take a parrot picked up on the ground in town by a member of the public. The vet nurse ,Julie, told us she had very short flight feathers and specks of yellow in her feathers. Off we went to collect her .She looked like a young bird to us .The yellow fecks through her feathers were something we hadn’t seen before.

on intake

We emailed the expert in Sydney ,Alex Rosenwax  at Bird and Exotics via my friend Sandi his very experienced vet nurse. We found out the flecks of yellow could indicate a disease which had no treatment and would kill her but also that it could be bad nutrition due to someone maybe taking her from a nest and not really knowing what to feed her and consequently just letting her go or she may have escaped. We hoped for the latter and it seems we have been rewarded as she is now looking really good, getting long flight feathers and putting on weight. The king parrots come round her aviary in the mornings and talk to her .The yellow flecks will go when she moults and gets her new feathers. If all goes well she will be released in about another 4weeks.

poor Girlie

 originally posted Jan 1st 2013

 Last Dec 2012 we had a new unexpected arrival to our flight aviary. Chu and Man were obviously very happy in there and Chu laid eggs which 1 at least was fertilised and out popped young Fu. Named after our old bird Fu who died of old age some weeks before. I can’t say they were great parents but did their best. They were certainly feeding him but as we really didn’t want to breed caged birds (these are unable to be released and came into care as unwanted pets) we hadn’t provided them with a breeding box . They did follow their natural instincts and mad a nest in a log but neglected to keep it clean. The nest actually collapsed and out fell young Fu. We took him in and raised him then returned with mum and dad.

baby Fu

youngster Fu

Raising a cockatiel to independence takes about 7weeks. We had a friend staying with us from Sydney who was a great baby bird sitter! he spent many hours on the back verandah watching the wildlife and introducing young Fu to the outdoors .

Fu almost fully feathered

Brian
best bird sitter and Fu

We had an adult  female kookaburra in care. She had damaged a small bone in her wing and had not been able to fly and catch food .She was on the road and picked up by a kind young man on his way to work who took her to the local vet in town who then called to see if we might be able to help. She was very thin so we put her in a small shade cloth cage to rest ,gave her a course of antibiotics and began offering her mice to eat. She ate well, got her strength back and while that was happening the small bone calcified and mended and we were able to release her. Kookaburras are part of their own family group and have a territory so you should always ask where they were picked up from and release the bird to the same place so it can reunite with it’s family.

Chris&kookaburra

We also had a young raven which we found on the ground on our way back from town .Only in care for a few days. It seems  that he had a collision in strong winds and had suffered some minor concussion. He was also fine and released.

originally posted  November 4^th 2012

It’s been a while since I updated but having a baby kangaroo is keeping me busy.My sister has been over from NZ for a visit which I really enjoyed. She is an animal lover and was great helping with Bozo.

Helen&Bozo

papoose

We  made a papoose while she was here and he loves to be carried around in that. Bozo out grew his play pen so Larry has built him a small pen that he goes into for safety when we have to go into town.

Bozos pen

It has a shade cloth roof to keep him cool but also to stop any wedge tail eagles from swooping down for a yummy meal as baby roos are a favourite food! It has a shelter part at the back and he sleeps out the at night in his bag (substitute mum’s pouch) Bozo’s weight was aprox 1625 grams when we found him in his dead mum’s pouch.  He is now   aprox 3200 grams.

Bozo in his pouch learning about the great outdoors!

originally  posted October 21st   2012

We have about 4 swallows nests around the house and the babies are all out now and learning to catch food on the wing. Adult swallows have a very busy life when they are feeding their young. All you see when watching the nests is constant open becks! It was a good learning experience watching the developments day by day.

nest up above our front door – mum swallow sitting on her eggs

hungry mouths

getting big

mum feeding

swallows first flight

We have been getting our vegetable garden going and at last things are starting to grow. We have been eating lots of radishes and lettuce while waiting for everything else! Also trial and error with many plants trying to find out what grows well here. Our bottle brush bushes are out in flower and attracting quite a few friar birds. Always something to learn .I didn’t know that friar birds were nectar eaters but they obviously are. The Casuarina Cockatoos

male casuirina cockatoo

female casuarina cockatoo

yellow tailed cockatoos

are around constantly and we have also seen a couple of brush-tail wallabies in the past week .It’s good to know that we have endangered species around here .We have also sighted a couple of flocks of yellow tail cockatoos in the past month which I was delighted about as I used to love seeing them flying overhead in Sydney and I didn’t  think they were around here.

Endangered Brush- tailed Rock Wallaby