Day 50 of lockdown. In the mid afternoon, I walked down to the Cooks River for some exercise. Once there, I walked upstream, eventually to Cup and Saucer Creek and then back downstream and home.
I looked out for the pairs of Tawny Frogmouths as I made my way along the river.
I could not find the pair that I often see near Younger Avenue. They now appear to have abandoned their nest. On my previous evening visit, I had watched he Tawny Frogmouth sitting on the nest, leave it as soon as it got dark, and the second Tawny Frogmouth did not come and replace it with brooding duty. So I assume there were no eggs. I have seen Tawny Frogmouths abandon nests before – often their flimsy nests fall down in a storm or in windy weather. This does not seem to have happened here – the nest is still intact. Perhaps they have found a better site? Or perhaps they were a bit premature? Mid August is a bit early for these birds to start nesting compared to others agog the river that I have observed.
Up at the Boat Harbour, it was easy to spot one of the Tawny Frogmouths – in a place it often roosts at near the river.
I didn’t spot its mate until I walked back downstream, when I looked more carefully and found it perched about 50 m away, in a tree near the houses.
I photographed some of the bother birds I saw along the way. At Cup and Saucer Creek Wetlands I photographed this Australian Swamphen –
And one of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos –
In the trees near Wardell Road, a large number of Little Corellas were feeding –
