...but still lots of interest
No flying today unfortunately. The forecast was for 12 km/h winds but arriving at the field it to be gusting around 20 km/h, just a bit too much.
Still I did get to say hello to the kangaroos who’d ventured onto the field for the soft green grass. Also the cattle were in residence, the first time I’d seen them closeby in the morning for quite a while. Heavy rains over the weekend had swelled the pond to generous proportions but, oddly enough, there weren’t any ducks about. Perhaps the rains had produced enough ponds around for them to be spoilt for choice.
I took a drive around to another field, where I’d had my tree climbing sorties, but found the winds there much the same, the trees not providing much of a buffer. So flying was pretty much ruled out for the day. Some noise in the trees across the field attracted my attention so I took a walk across.
A flock of the large black cockatoos at work, stripping bark and looking for breakfast. They have long straight wings and fly with a curiously wooden action, like a wind-up bird might look. However, they have a remarkable ability to make very rapid changes in direction, seeming to stall one wing and then spin vigorously before flying again. This trick seems particularly useful when they’re playing with their mates in the boisterous manner characteristic of cockatoos.
On my way back I pulled up to watch some ducks, half a dozen very small brown ducks (I don't know what type, some homework for me to do) were standing near the roadside fence near a small pond. I had seen these ducks come flying at speed across the field I had just been at, before banking sharply and dropping out of sight behind the trees. Very impressive flying for such diminutive creatures.
