Blog stuff

This morning there was a pair of humpbacks mating just off Dangerpoint. It's a really beautiful day. Daniel and Michele are coming to visit for the weekend.

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From last week:
This morning's walk to the Hole we encountered a malachite kingfisher and then watched a huge heron, almost hovering as he comes in so slowly, right onto "the stall", to land on a frail tipmost branch of a milkwood. He's about 40m from Chris and me, on the other side of the river; as we watch, he balances precariously and then offsets his weight in anticipation to compensate for a vigorous shake of his head. He almost falls off his perch - several times - but maintains his balance and dignity somehow. A couple of boys walk past on the other side of the river and create a perfect symmetry.

It's absurdly beautiful here.

Later in the day I found a badly mauled rat outside the cottage. I ignored it and it went away. An hour or so later I heard a shriek and went outside to find an injured bat being attacked by a bird. My interruption sent the bird away - so I 'rescued' the bat. What a cute thing. I took him into my room and left him on the top of my wardrobe. A few hours later, as I was sitting at my desk I felt something land on my back. I knew it was him - and checking over my shoulder in the mirror I see him in the centre of my back (on my pullover) with his wings outstretched and looking rather iconic. He falls off and flaps into the lounge on his strained wings. Chris follows him and actually picks him up in his mouth and tosses the poor critter in the air before I can get there to rescue it. I bring him back to my room and leave him on top of the wardrobe again. That was the last time I saw him. On the way back from Orbi's, later in the afternoon, I found a dead cormorant on the beach. It looked like he was coated with oil.