Yesterday, Gracia took down her postcard collages, Stephen, his photographs, and I, my Northern Hawk-owls, Turquoise Parrots, and Pink-footed Shearwaters, but before I go into detail, let's pretend it is still on. With my birds serving as a backdrop, here is a look at A Flight of Twelve Southern Hemisphere Birds. Here you can see the Crested Jay (Platylophus galericulatus) on the left and the Yellow-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes flavifrons) on the right. One of the exciting things about this Year of Birds project of mine is that Gracia has written an explorer's narrative to feature in the unique state work, A Year of Southern Hemisphere Birds. And here, below, your very first taste.
JANUARY
Yellow-billed Kingfisher (Syma torotoro)
WEDNESDAY 16th
1.50 PM
As I sit here concealed by leafy tropical canopy in Lae, a remote part of
Papua New Guinea, I am thinking that my hastily formed idea might just be a
little mad and most decidedly ill formed. When we spoke at Christmas of our
plans for the forthcoming year, little did I imagine myself actually acting
upon them, yet here I am, explorers hat on my crown, awaiting sighting of the
Yellow-bellied Kingfisher*. There are
worse ways to spend one’s January, and, some would rightly argue, there are
better ways to spend one’s January, and, there is, it transpires, my way to
spend the first month of the year, with binoculars pressed to nose bridge, ears
on alert for the whistling trill of the Kingfisher. A medium sized bird with a
wingspan equal to that of a 30cm ruler, they are apparently quite common both
the local guides and printed guidebooks assure me, though my experience seems
thus far to be the exception to the rule. The long hot days of summer draw me a
cantankerous figure (this, the ill formed part to my plan I earlier
referenced), and I wonder if I will be able to manipulate the mantle of
Twitcher to fit my shape. The mosquitoes are holding a wedding party on my
right leg and a conference on my left, and on my forearms, their local
government is in session. I am being bitten, pricked, and drained, and all in
name of cataloguing twelve southern hemisphere birds, one for each month of the
year. I wait, pencil in hand, ready to draw for you this stocky little bird
whose very sighting will turn my seasonal rancour on its head. (The Kingfisher
is known to favour feasting upon large insects, earthworms and lizards so am
draping them about my person. Is a lure to cheat?)
* Drawn here surrounded
by a ring of termites. It is in the abandoned chambers created by
arboreal termites that the Kingfisher makes its nest, laying between 3 to 4 eggs.
Come along to the opening next Wednesday night to read and see more.
(Many thanks to all the staff at Geelong Gallery for making our recent show so very wonderful, and for allowing G and me to take a couple of photos in the beautiful space.)
