Rain on the Pond at last....

Some people would find my pleasure at seeing rain on our pond a bit weird...but this is January here on the Fleurieu and the height of summer.
And such a hot and dry summer we have never had as the records show.So when we had rain last Thursday night and early Friday morning, it was a real pleasure to record the rain falling on the pond surface.....we had 12ml of rain altogether and it meant we did not have to water the garden for a couple of days. Tomorrow we will start our watering routine again.

The other pleasure we have is seeing the pure white water lilies rising out of the murky water of the pond. As yet we have not been able to have the pond water clear, though at present I am working at it by using some bacterial stuff used to keep our septic tank healthy.... the goldfish seem to tolerate it as do the frogs, we have at least 4 frogs singing their froggy songs at night.
If I were a composer, their calls, all at different pitches and at intervals would make an interesting piece of music...

We seem to have acquired a small mob of Galahs.
They are an entertaining lot of creatures with a voice less strident than the Corella and an amusing way of going about their daily lives.
They are rather short legged and waddle along on the ground finding interesting plants or roots to eat, or they hang upside down from branches to let the rain wash their armpits, if that is what they are called in the bird world.

They have discovered the pond at last and after tentative explorations as to how to get to the water,( water lily leaves do not support their weight) they now realize they need to get on the lower edges of the slate to get a drink....
The crested pigeons are a bit put out now because they consider it "Their" watering hole and get a bit fussed sitting on their rock amidst a mob of pink and grey galahs .... do remember to click on the photos to get a closer view of these birds....

The bird on the left is a female Blackbird which flew into our window pane and stunned itself early the other morning. The wet patch infront of it is not blood but water which I managed to give it so it could recover.... it did and flew off when next I went to enquire how it was getting on...
one of my friends would not be amused about me saving a blackbird as they are not liked by everyone...I love their song and don't mind they toss the mulch about with gay abandon.

This birdbath is next to the pond and the Rosella and Greeny, which is a honey eater, were happy to share the water on a hot morning...
Tonight though, it was amusing to see the Galahs thinking this was another place to drink and the Magpies which also think this is their private bar, were very annoyed and were busy telling the Galahs to piss off and go elsewhere....
Such is life in a drought stricken garden.....