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— o O o —
A small flock of figbirds stole all the neighbours' mulberries, which was a shame, because I was going to steal them*. The birds flew off when I brought out my camera, presumably aware of the value of photographic evidence.
Later in the day, a kookaburra landed in the same tree and demonstrated a similar level of familiarity with photographic evidence. This is unusual. Kookaburras are not known for their shyness, as anyone who has tried to have a barbecue at any number of locations along the east coast can attest. They'll** steal sausages off your fork, nestlings out of your hands and would probably raid your fridge if they could only manage the door handle.This un-kooka-like behaviour makes me wonder if this is the bird responsible for the missing rubber snake. Perhaps it has learnt a lesson. Not sure what lesson, but one of them nonetheless.
— o O o —
This is a good time of year for watching birds of prey, but I'm not very good at identifying them. Oh, I can manage the easy ones, such as the Pacific baza, grey goshawk and black-shouldered kite, but those browny greyey ones get me every time. So, may I ask those of you who are better at raptor IDs than I am***, is this a brown goshawk? Thanks in advance.
Either this one, or its buddy, keeps hurtling through the garden when I least expect it. To be fair, I keep leaving the house just when the bird least expects it. If we're tallying surprises, the bird and I are about equal.
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* I wasn't.
** Kookaburras. Although I'm sure 'anyone who has tried to have a barbecue at any number of locations along the east coast' might also be a food thief of the first order.
*** Which is everyone, up to and including the spider in my shoe.
