Australia - Manic Street Preachers Part II

 "I want to Fly and Run until it hurts, Sleep for a while and Speak no Words"

"In Australia, In Australia!"

So, let's see how many mistakes we can make this time, only 4 on the Post of last Sunday so surely room for improvement? Any duplicates not intentional.

Known to Most
BLACK SWAN

WHITE-FACED HERON

TAWNY-CROWNED HONEYEATER

PURPLE SWAMPHEN

WESTERN ROSELLA
North a little from the south coast lies the

STIRLING RANGE NATIONAL PARK
with maybe more Cockatoo's, both numbers and species, than anywhere else in the Country including:-

WHITE-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO

RED-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO
along with the seriously endangered

CARNABY'S BLACK COCKATOO

BRAHMNIY KITE

RED WHATTLEBIRD

LAUGHING DOVE

AUSTRALIAN PAINTED LADY

WALABY

RESTLESS FLYCATCHER

PEMBERTON
where we picked up some of the 'Westerners'

WESTERN SPINEBILL

WESTERN YELLOW ROBIN
and

WESTERN GERIGONE
and on the

SANDFLATs

BLACK-FRONTED PLOVER
and close by our first Fairywren if you want a 'total blinder'

SPLENDID FAIRY-WREN
(male)
and the sharply contrasting

(FEMALE)

We feel like we have had these before, but rather than check no-one would baulk at a gaggle of

AUSTRALIAN PELICAN
(a strange old bird is the Pelican, its bill can hold more than its Belly can!)

NEW HOLLAND HONEYEATER

BLACK-FACED CUCKOO-SHRIKE

along with a
Notice to Mariners

YELLOW-RUMPED THORNBIRD

AUSTRALIAN GREBE
(seen before me thinks)

RED-WINGED FAIRY WREN

RING-NECKED PARROT

SACRED KINGFISHER

YELLOW-PLUMED HONEYEATER

REGENT PARROT
UNTIL WE MEET THE 'DINKS' AGAIN!

The Harry Lime Theme - Anton Karas

 As far as the name is concerned, here on the Farm, it is something of a misnomer to call them

'COMMON' SWIFT
as something of a rarity but not yesterday morning. Stepping outside at 05:15 the sky was full of them, many dozens rather than hundreds, but just in the instant it took to pick up the Canon, they were gone! Not a great disaster eventhough we would have enjoyed capturing them en-mass the Moth Traps soon redressed the balance with New for the Year

an absolutely stunning

SCARLET TIGER MOTH

a far less glamorous
DARK SWORD-GRASS

JULY HIGHFLYER
As making enough noise to waken the dead it seemed like an invitation to visit the second brood of

KESTRELs

with Male parent

before heading north and finding an unexpected pod of

SYGNETs
on the Gravel Pit with no sign of nest or parents??

A

thermalling

COMMON BUZZARD

while admiring the seemingly never ending hedgerows and particularly flowering

ELDER

Close to the Heath it was considered that this

COAL TIT

may be preparing for a 'second brood'?
With Wild Flowers now at their Best we decided to add a couple of examples

A Mixed Bunch

along with

FOXGLOVE

and even the invasive
FERNs
looking eye-catching.

Only our second sighting of Fungi for the year, this almost on the doorstep
and finally an overlooked

LIME HAWK-MOTH

still hanging on to an egg-tray!

All That Glitters is not Gold

 GLOOMY of late sounds very much like an understatement, but still life goes on but only 2 additions to the Annual Moth List by way of:-

CYPRESS CARPET

and

MINOR SHOULDER-KNOT

along with a

SEXTON BEETLE

as usual with attendant
PARACITES

"fly away sweet little thing they're hot on your trail" - Genesis!

while from Marillion

"A SPIDER wanders aimlessly within the warmth of a shaddow

not the regal creature of border caves. But the poor, misguided, directionless familiar of some obscure Scottish poet!

Bitter Suite from the album

Prey Species - Clouded Border Moth.

Feeling lucky to find anything at all, given the weather conditions, we happened upon this

WOOD PIGEON

unaware as engaged in a
Bath and Dhobie as us seafarers might say,

which was a similar circumstance with this young

LAPWING

while continuing the 'juvenile' theme with

STONECHAT

or is it a Robin

with a

number of

ROBINs

somewhat older and maybe the

PARENT

with a small

CHARM

of
GOLDFINCHES

bringing our wander to an end.

PIED WAGTAIL
from the doorstep.