Last week, en route to my parents farm, my Dad and I spotted the following: 14 Grey, Teal or perhaps Chestnut-teal waterfowls; many Magpie-Larks; 167 Magpies; millions of Little Ravens and/or Pied Currawongs and/or White-winged Choughs (I'm not sure which); 7 Diamond Firetails; 50 Galahs; 31 + 3 distant flocks Sulphur Crested Cockatoos; 1 Laughing Kookaburra; 4 Willie Wagtails; 4 Kites or/and Brown Goshauks (again, it could have been either, I am no professional twitcher); 9 Crimson Rosellas; many Pigeons; and 13 Kangaroos.
I feel the need to reaffirm that I am no twitcher. I fantasize about being a brilliant ornithologist but that is all it is, pure fantasy. The reality is that Dad and I scribbled down a list, which included many vague descriptions like… brown duck, unknown; little hawk; blackbird, size of a magpie. Upon my return, I then studied my Field Guide to the Birds of Australia and deduced from our notes that a brown duck was more than likely a Chestnut-teal waterfowl common to the area, and that a black magpie-sized bird is more than likely a Pied Currawong.
As I didn’t stay the night at the farm on this visit I missed seeing the enormous night sky and all its millions of stars shining brilliantly. I shall have to console myself with staring at these stars instead…
Tumble and fall (V)
Gracia Haby
Collage, 2008
My favourite of Gracia’s new collages for a galaxy of stars. Enjoy.
