Lone Pelican

This morning is my first walk after setting up this Blog. There has been cold and blustery wind from the South East for the last couple of days, with annoying drizzle which is better than no rain at all.

When I get to my front gate I can either go strait ahead to the beach or right to the Wetlands. When it is wet under foot I prefer to go to the beach because my feet don't get so wet.

So to the beach it was this morning. This track takes me down two fairways and across sand dunes to the beach.

I walk (briskly) caring my binoculars. Along the fairways I could hear an elusive Bush Bronzewing, this bird makes a repetitive whoop whoop sound that could be mistaken for something mechanical like a large sprinkler head. I sited this bird about 3 weeks ago and took a photograph so am happy to identify it as living here, I have seen it briefly since then but it is hard to pick up and quick to disappear.

Other birds frequently seen are Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, Starlings, Australian Magpie and Magpie-lark.

The sea was choppy and irregular and the tide was low. There are not many birds to be seen on days like this, there were a few Silver Gulls and gliding along the waves were two Pacific Gulls one seemed to be immature in colour.

Jade my short haired Border collie loves going to the beach in fact she just loves life, she runs at top speed up and down the wave break as though she is rounding up fast moving sheep.

On our way back Jade spotted a Welcome Swallow to round up, there have been a lot of these about over the last few weeks, they spend their days gliding in numbers just above the grass catching insects.

When I got back to the house An Australian Pelican was gliding down the river path. Many birds use the Merri as a flight path from the sea to the Wetlands, this pelican has been landing on the river over the past few days and I wonder if he was the lone pelican that I saw on one of the billabongs in the Wetlands last week.

While I am at the computer I can see across our paddocks to the road an the golf course, these paddocks are where the horses live and I take great joy from sitting hear glancing over my screen and watching them meandering through their day. The other enjoyment is watching the passing parade of birds. On the lawn are 3 mature and 2 immature European Greenfinch selecting grass seed heads, out with the horses are a varying number of Straw-necked Ibis and not so may Australian White Ibis they seem to forage together looking for bugs and the swallows are on the move, maybe as the day warms up the bugs are also on the move. Can you believe it as I type a male Magpie-Lark is strutting by also after the insects.

I will have to close or I will be here all day, I have so many back stories to tell of my life with the birds.