Part Six: Kingfishers, Kites and Eagles

The monsoon wet season 'Gudjewg' reluctantly passed and 'Banggerreng', the knock'em down storms nearly over, and harvest time was in full swing, so it was time to start planning the 'Grand Design' of my garden as I kept company with my evening glass of Semillon while enjoying the coolness of my back patio. This time of the year sees an explosion of butterflies.

Almost blocking my view was the large, leafy, drooping green-ant tree in the back corner of the yard. Its fast-spreading branches were nearly overhanging the house and dropping a profuse amount of leaves in my yard while the green ant occupants were saying "whoopee" as they took a free roller-coaster ride to the ground – only to climb back up for a repeat performance. Unfortunately, if I ventured out into their territory, they would nip and sting mercilessly, forcing me to retreat quicksmart.

While I sipped my glass of white and contemplated my miniscule garden area, I caught a flash of iridescent turquoise over to my left on a lower branch of an NT native melaleuca. It was a forest kingfisher whose brilliant wings and back were reflecting the late sun's rays, highlighting his puffed-up creamy coloured chest. His head darted and flicked in unison with his ever-observant eye movement, always looking, looking......

Way up high in the wishy-washy blue sky, a whistling kite slowly spiralled ever downward on a convenient thermal, his plaintive cry only just discernible in the evening stillness.

Lower down in the ether, a brahminy kite, with his distinctive brown and white jersey, includes the immediate mid-sky into his survey/speculation range. I watch entranced as his sweeping orbit grows ever larger the lower he descends, giving him maximum peripheral viewing as he seeks suitable prey. We are actually only just contained within his outer orbit area, but I feel he does appreciate having his presence recognised, so I give him a big wave!

A white and grey sea eagle glides smoothly on to one of the top branches of the melaleuca, dispatching both the cruising brahminy and the nervy kingfisher (as well as many other smaller birds in the vicinity) to other places. But he only stays for a moment or two and then, in a blink, he is gone, seemingly happy just to have disturbed the peace and equilibrium of the neighbourhood.

Next month: Green ants and seasonal change.