What amazed us was the materials the birds had gathered to make their nest. It had binder twine, some green garden tie wire and of all things, a piece of cyclone fencing wire....how innovative can you get, here are birds taking advantage of modern materials and we are still mostly building brick,on brick.....
They have been so silent we thought perhaps they had left our pond or,horrors of horrors, something had eaten them all....
So it was with joy to hear at least one frog but now there are three at least and hopefully more, croaking not quite as a chorus but still at least as duets. The white faced Heron stands at the edge still, not having quite managed to eat all the goldfish but now I strongly suspect, he is listening to the frogs as well.
Nature will take its course I guess and the frogs will learn to hide themselves among the slate pieces lining the pond.
This morning while pouring my early morning cup of tea, there was a Wood duck, a male with his handsome chestnut head and calling to his mate in that peculiar sound, like a cat meouwing .
We had them years ago before our trees had become large.
They have nested in the old Sugargum at the gate and it is disconcerting to see the young ducklings drop out of the nest from a great height, bouncing like little rubber balls......
The Ash tree is just starting to sprout and I remember last year he sat all through the most horrendous weather then, to hatch his two chicks.
He too, of course eats frogs so again I hope the frogs know how to hide at night as well.....
I found this desiccated frog on the bricks....
I have put it in with the Wattle bird scull and feet which I found in the front garden some moths ago....I keep them in an old chocolate box next to the other Memento Mori .... a raven's scull....what is this fascination with skeletal things at the moment.....is it my age? or is it just that I marvel at the complexity of created bodies.....
