Birds Reign

Oh this rain is wonderful and such a welcome reprieve to the last week or so.

 

It's been so hot and scary-dry and out-of-control-bushfires are getting called in every day. Evacuation centres set up and the heli-taks are filling up with water on the school oval. A woman is walking around town looking for her cat. Her house burned down and she was staying at the backpackers, she said.

As I drove home today, the rain has created that 'shedding' phenomena that I mentioned about the same time last year - the karris suddenly shed their bark when it rains after a hot spell. The roads were covered in crunchy tendrils of tree skin where ever I drove through a karri forest. These skins look like snakes in that they curve and move on the road. 

Over the hot days, I've put fresh water out for the birds and animals. I never feed them here. My thoughts are that they've survived fine without me for millennia, but I know they just love fresh water. They get so excited when I fill up the old enamelled pot. Yesterday I watched a sacred kingfisher come in for a drink, then a wattler which in keeping with its thug reputation, had a glorious bath for fifteen minutes while the king parrots waited patiently. Red robins, silver eyes, spotted pardolotes, firetail finches and thornbills. Then, early this morning, a Carnaby landed. 

 

This cockatoo seemed to like the general idea of water but was so bloody huge and couldn't work out how to actually bathe in it!