OUR WORLD & Wild Bird Wednesday

Remember my New Holland Honeyeaters?

Well, we had a massive windstorm recently that, apart from 

crashing a great old weeping willow across the gateway to the 

main farmhouse, smashed two thirds of the all year round food

source of our honeyeaters and left our 17,000 gallon water tank

exposed to sight.

On the other hand, it did make it a little easier to get a shot of the 

muscle man of honeyeaters, the Wattlebird. This chap terrorises 

cats as well as all the other honeyeaters whose territory this is.

Over the last five years the wattlebird population has 

increased so dramatically that their rather unpleasant screech
rings out anywhere you go.

Linking to OUR WORLD 

and

Wild Bird Wednesday

MY WORLD ~ Winter in the Wild Wood

A few days ago I went to our little Wild Wood which is left to it's

own devices, in other words, given back to God.

It had a carpet of last season's leaves and vibrant green coming

through after our autumn and winter rains, as well as bright

sulphurous lichens.

Here you see the yellow on the dead wood and a great deal

of storm damage. My excuse for a wonder in the wood was a

search for the daytime roost of a new owl I had been listening

to night after night. I had no luck as far as the owl was concerned,

it is probably hiding somewhere in the boundary pine trees or

even further afield.

Looking back along the sheep-track, the winter creek-bed

is choked with fallen trees.

I have not seen it this bad in many, many years, even the big

poplars are snapped and uprooted.

This massive nut-pine was uprooted some years ago. It is

much bigger than it appears, the diameter is at least 5' and

that rootball is at least 10' high.

past the nut-pine and along the dam (getting my feet wet

in my leaking Wellingtons). Just beyond our dam, the wood

ducks that had taken flight at my approach, were regrouping

and thinking of flying over the fence to the neighbours dam

and this is looking back across our dam towards the wild wood.

Even with the devastation, it was a nice walk, freedom, fresh air and

delicious solitude.

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