At long last

 There is a pair of Pacific Black Ducks that have lived here for some years.

 I have never seen them with young until now. 

Look what appeared on our dam this week.

They have manged to raise seven ducklings that are now half grown. 

 Here they are after their swim heading off in single file. 

It is fantastic to see. 

Quink quink, kik kik

For over a week I stalked Western Rosellas. They could be seen from inside the house on the Guitenotia bush, feasting on the seed pods. The soft silky grey foliage was bejewelled by flashes of red, yellow, blue and green. As soon as I walked outside they would be off flying down the paddock, not returning till I had gone back inside. I could hear their high pitched 'quink quink ..quink quink' but not see them. Despite their bright colouring they are difficult to see if they want to stay hidden. Western Rosellas tend to feed quietly in pairs or small groups. Around here that is often on the ground in the pasture or in fruit trees if they are not netted.

In the end, when there were few seeds left on the bushes, I persevered. I stayed outside and stalked them. I'd see a bird, it would see me, then take off. This loop played out over and over. Finally the above bird returned and landed on some kangaroo paws. It looked at me - shocked - when it realised I was only metres away. Something changed and it lost its caution. The Rosella flew over to the Guitenotia and ate happily while it watched me as I photographed it.

In this last week the Sacred Kingfishers have returned for their summer breeding season. The pair here called to each other 'kik kik kik kik'; one near our house the other down by the creek. This fellow hunted for food, swooped down to the ground and back up to a high vantage point before it flew down the hill towards it's mate.

Low tide at Lights

Beach surprise

After an absence of several weeks I finally got to the beach today. Miske had been in season which meant we had been confined to walking in 'safe' locations: down to the dam and back or into the bush next door. Definitely not to the dog beach. Blake, the puppy we kept, had been taken to the beach a few times by friends when they took their dogs down to the beach, so he had at least had a bit of fun. Blake is now as big as his mum, much to her chagrin. She wants to be boss and he wants to be annoying. Now Blake just woofs at her to let her know he isn't happy about something. I have seen her give up a bone to him after one woof. Not a good precedent if she wants to stay boss.

The tide was way out exposing thin green slivers of water weed laying flat on the limestone rocks, the weeds occasionally raised up as an incoming wave lifted and swirled around and over then raced towards my feet tracing the moving edges of the water. Sooty oyster catchers with their distinctive red beaks and eyes took advantage of the low tide, and picked and probed a smorgasbord fresh from the rocks.

While I was photographing the ocean an immature Pacific Gull lazily drifted into my picture frame. 

It floated along the jagged limestone edge just in front of us before it flapped up and off further down the beach before commencing the lazy drift again. 

The last thing I expected to see down the beach this morning was a small flock of white tailed black cockatoos. They were feeding on the seeds of the wild geranium growing only metres from the sandy beach. The birds were half hidden on the ground, becoming visible as they flapped up and drifted a few metres along with the breeze, then dropped down to feed once more.

Look carefully there are five cockies in the image above.

Here they are much easier to pick out. They are probably Baudin's Cockatoo as they breed in karri country as opposed to Carnaby's Cockatoo which breed mainly in the wheatbelt. Their different bill shapes are rather difficult to determine from a distance. Baudin's has a long narrow upper bill and Carnaby's has a short thick upper bill. Their calls are different too, but these fellows were too busy eating to be calling.