Part Four: Visitors – the fly-in, fly-out variety

As a follow-on from last month, the wing-flapping indulged in by the ibis is just ostentatious showmanship – no damage is ever done.

Towards the end of the wet season, while it was still pouring monsoonal buckets, I watched as a pair of Burdekin ducks (Radjah Shelduck) waddled along close to my back fence, not pausing and suspicious of every slight sound and/or movement.

It was a rare sighting in built-up suburbia of these cream and chestnut-coloured ducks as they are slow-moving and very trusting, thus making themselves a sitting target for unsportsmanlike shooters. I only saw them this one time, but live in hope that they will be back next wet season.

On another rainy day, and sticking to the black and white theme, some magpie geese mistook the flooded grass area for a real lake and came to a skidding halt amongst the ever-present ibis, flashing their orange beaks and totally dwarfing the 'common' ibis. With their heads held high on long, slender necks, they gazed superciliously at the locals then, deciding that there was actually nothing to eat, with one accord they all took a running, floundering take-off, splashing water and scattering the ibis willy-nilly!

However, the imperious ibis soon re-formed into their accustomed cliques and continued to meander their way, assiduously hoovering the grass roots for tasty grubs.

A lone masked lapwing (also known as a spur-winged plover), his bright yellow face wattles highlighted by his pristine white chest, with his spurs clearly visible poking forwards from his wing flaps, settled briefly on the grass one day before jetting off for more productive fields.

Next month: Lurkers and Outcasts