Been away from the Blog too long. Hardly surprising. The skies opened up last week and we've had in excess of 200mm of rain in the past week or so. My dam [photo of it in its former glory somewhere below for those who scroll down] has peaked beyond and above former levels. Another few inches and it'll be overflowing.
And while that might suggest time for blogging, not when you have 7½ acres to look after, with ducks, chickens and assorted wildlife that also needs attention - birds find it difficult to feed themselves when there's a blanket of rain tipping out of the blue yonder. The toll of verandah visitors seeking food handouts is increasing daily: Rainbow Lorikeets, Australian King-Parrots, Apostlebirds, Grey Butcherbirds, Magpie-larks and this morning even a bedraggled Grey-crowned Babbler.
And there's the matter of clearing gutters, drains; digging "whoa-boys" to divert sheets of water away from the house and generally cleaning up as the mess mounts.
The rain has of course also severely retarded birding plans. Fay and I had an appointment with Tarong staff on Saturday to investigate a new monitoring site at the local Power Station. Washed out.
No go!
We did sneak in a quick visit to the Cooling Water Dam and the Meandu Creek Dam, the two largest dams used by the Power Station, this [Sunday] morning. The latter produced Chestnut Teal, 151 on the 2010 Year List but even more stunning were the magic views of a trio of juvenile Great Crested Grebe - a species I well recall watching at Blithfield Reservoir, among other Staffordshire sites.
And while that might suggest time for blogging, not when you have 7½ acres to look after, with ducks, chickens and assorted wildlife that also needs attention - birds find it difficult to feed themselves when there's a blanket of rain tipping out of the blue yonder. The toll of verandah visitors seeking food handouts is increasing daily: Rainbow Lorikeets, Australian King-Parrots, Apostlebirds, Grey Butcherbirds, Magpie-larks and this morning even a bedraggled Grey-crowned Babbler.
And there's the matter of clearing gutters, drains; digging "whoa-boys" to divert sheets of water away from the house and generally cleaning up as the mess mounts.
The rain has of course also severely retarded birding plans. Fay and I had an appointment with Tarong staff on Saturday to investigate a new monitoring site at the local Power Station. Washed out.
No go!
We did sneak in a quick visit to the Cooling Water Dam and the Meandu Creek Dam, the two largest dams used by the Power Station, this [Sunday] morning. The latter produced Chestnut Teal, 151 on the 2010 Year List but even more stunning were the magic views of a trio of juvenile Great Crested Grebe - a species I well recall watching at Blithfield Reservoir, among other Staffordshire sites.
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