On New Years Day, I did a short local walk, first to Morton Park, on Canterbury Road at Lewisham, thenI caught a bus to Canterbury, where I met up with Valerie for a slow walk along the Cooks River where we looked for birds.
At Morton Park, I was surprised to see a Tawny Frogmouth still sitting on its nest. It seems to have been sitting on the nest for quite a while now – several months. Is it sitting on non-viable eggs? Or perhaps the female has laid a set of new eggs? More observations are needed.
It is usually the male that sits on the nest during the day. I spotted the second of the pair perched in quite a thick tree –
Then I caught a bus to Canterbury and started off downstream along the Cooks River. At the Sugar Mill Bridge, I met up with Valerie.
Magpie Lark with some food –
At the Cup and Saucer Wetlands, we saw this Turtle –
This Little Pied Cormorant was perched on a mangrove on the river –
We could not find the Tawny Frogmouth family that we had seen earlier at the Boat Harbour. Further downstream we spotted this Willie Wagtail –
And a fair way further downstream, we spotted a Willie Wagtail sitting on a nest.
We looked for the Tawny Frogmouth family at Ewen Park, but had no luck. Perhaps they have moved to the other side of the river?
But downstream, just in the golf course, we soon spotted the family of five Tawny Frogmouths perched in a Casuarina. They were a delight to observe. The three juveniles were all awake and restless – preening, scratching or stretching their wings.
