Cold runs and the philosophy of Frogmouth Roosts
It might be a bit of a stretch but I think I can link these topics (other than by time). Note that I expect this post to be a lot shorter than the previous saga.
Before we came to live in Canberra I used to come over for work and would report to Frances how beautiful the place was on the frosty Winter mornings. When we shifted over (1983) the first Winter was dreary: few frosts and lots of drizzle. This Winter has had many hard frosts already (yesterday -6.8C, today -6.5C at the Airport: today felt colder at Carwoola) and the days are beautiful.
Despite the chill Frances and I and the small dog went for a run this morning. The lead is present, but invisible in this image.
Early in the process these Sulphur-crested Cockatoos displayed their stuff. Note the clarity and blueness of the sky!
As expected the Hoskinstown Plain was pretty foggy.
A spider had been kind enough to set up a framework for Jack Frost to do some artistry.
Let us now move to the philosophical question. Over the three+ years for which I have been observing the pair of Tawny Frogmouths there have been a number of days when I have been unable to locate them. This year I have found two additional roosts. On both occasions after I have found these new roosts they have proven quite popular. My question is how to determine whether one of these new spots is where the birds have been when not located in the past? The alternative is that are yet further roosts.
Subsequently the birds vanished for a couple of days so that made it clear that there are further roosts. On 22 May I couldn't find them anywhere but as walking down the drive noticed a lump in the tree in the bed outside our sunroom. Sure enough, there they were. That is the third extra roost found this year, giving a total of 15 (there are plenty more trees available).
I have deliberately left this as a fairly 'wide' shot since that gives a better idea of how they merge into the background of white branches. It is also interesting that they are perched on a dead branch. I shall have to give some attention to which of their roost perches are dead and which are alive.
A key issue may be that both new roosts are close to the extremities of my daily search area (although I would think that I have checked the sites, at least cursorily, in the past).
How to bring these together? The answer lies - as with most things - in the work of Terry Pratchett: see the entry for 'Detritus'. This does of course require that I have some physiological (at least) similarity to a troll!
In the afternoon I went for a run in Queanbeyan. The most unusual sight I saw was a woman in white walking down the middle of the road holding up the traffic. Then I realised the car behind her was a rather long station wagon and all the cars behind the wagon had their lights on. Ooops: a funeral! This raised questions of how far she was going to walk: the lawn cemetery is 4kms away and even the historical one is 2km!
The only other point of note was that while running along a dirt track beside the river I heard a loud crunching sound. On looking round approximately 10 Gang-gang Cockatoos were busy dining in some Hawthorn bushes.
Before we came to live in Canberra I used to come over for work and would report to Frances how beautiful the place was on the frosty Winter mornings. When we shifted over (1983) the first Winter was dreary: few frosts and lots of drizzle. This Winter has had many hard frosts already (yesterday -6.8C, today -6.5C at the Airport: today felt colder at Carwoola) and the days are beautiful.
Despite the chill Frances and I and the small dog went for a run this morning. The lead is present, but invisible in this image.
Subsequently the birds vanished for a couple of days so that made it clear that there are further roosts. On 22 May I couldn't find them anywhere but as walking down the drive noticed a lump in the tree in the bed outside our sunroom. Sure enough, there they were. That is the third extra roost found this year, giving a total of 15 (there are plenty more trees available).
A key issue may be that both new roosts are close to the extremities of my daily search area (although I would think that I have checked the sites, at least cursorily, in the past).
How to bring these together? The answer lies - as with most things - in the work of Terry Pratchett: see the entry for 'Detritus'. This does of course require that I have some physiological (at least) similarity to a troll!
In the afternoon I went for a run in Queanbeyan. The most unusual sight I saw was a woman in white walking down the middle of the road holding up the traffic. Then I realised the car behind her was a rather long station wagon and all the cars behind the wagon had their lights on. Ooops: a funeral! This raised questions of how far she was going to walk: the lawn cemetery is 4kms away and even the historical one is 2km!
The only other point of note was that while running along a dirt track beside the river I heard a loud crunching sound. On looking round approximately 10 Gang-gang Cockatoos were busy dining in some Hawthorn bushes.
Comments