Weekend stuff

Frances and I spent some of this weekend out in the bush (about 1200m above sea level) on birding duties. There has been a very dry spell for about 3 months, but we re now getting some rain.

To recycle a cliche there is good news and bad news.
The bad news first. Australia is the home of the bush fly. What is known as "the great Aussie salute" is a constant motion in which the hand is swept across in front of the face to fan away the flies. We have been told this weekend that as a result of the drought (last 5 years, not the last few months) the population of beetles that bury cattle poop has dropped drastically: thus more poop = more flies. Here is a shot of Frances supporting this research finding.
The good news (well the photogenic news at least) is that the rains have led the marsupials to start continued foetal development. (When things get dry the foeti just get put into suspended animation until food and water become available again. Don't ask me how this happens, but it does.) Frances took this piccie yesterday.





At El Rancho, as well as the marsupials, the reptiles are also doing well. We have a good crop of large lizards (including the water dragon to the left).







There are also a few snakes: here is a photo of onethat has taken up residence near the clothes line. So far it hasn't been identified, but it is likely to be fairly venomous so we're tending to give it some room (but it isn't aggressive).

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