Here in the Land Down Under we are blessed with many native birds and regular back yard visitors are often from the parrot family.

Generally, feeding of our native birds is frowned upon as it encourages them to neglect their normal eating habits in favour of bread scraps and items of that nature.

However during times of drought, bushfires and floods which are a regular part of our natural weather cycle, it’s not unusual for families to feed the native birds that come foraging in  back yards.

Here at Casa Creakingbones we fortunately are out of the fire zones but the severe drought has compelled our local Council to  introduce water restrictions.

Again, we are fortunate that years ago when we sank a bore we discovered that we can draw up to 3,000 gallons of water an hour from the two acquifiers which pass about 30 meters or 100 feet below the surface of our block.

Of course we don’t squander this great resource and limit its use to watering our native trees and grassed areas.

Our flourishing green native trees attract many species of native birds with Sulphur Crested Cockatoos and Carellas often in quite large mobs. Their calls are a  pleasure to listen to and their antics around the place are quite hillarious.

There is only one down side to the pleasure they give and the culprits, in the main, are the Suplhur Crested Cockatoos. You see they really enjoy cleaning and scraping their large and powerful beaks on the timbers that are exposed on the exterior of Casa Creakingbones.

Not structually damaging, just untidy and expensive to continually replace.

Fortunately all of our windows are framed in aluminium making them immune from attack.

However, the seeds and grasses favoured by the parrots are few and far between and have been so for quite some time and many of we town dwellers have taken to feeding real seed to the visitors. That way we are not harming them as does providing scraps of bread and stale biscuits etc.

Our large Australian parrots have a real liking for sunflower seed, either the grey or the black variety and fortunately supermarkets and pet food suppliers usually have the seeds in stock. However, feeding with loose seeds encourages unwanted visitors like Pigeons, Starlings, Indian Minors and otherspests to join in uninvited.

Our supermarkets stock the ideal answer to the loose seed issue. They have a great product called, wait for it, ‘Bird Munchies – Sunflower Seed Block.’

It’s just a matter of tearing off the wrapper and hanging the block in a handy tree.

Here are a few images of this morning’s breakfast session on a Sunflower Seed block:

 

As the weather improves and the natural environment again provides the  feed that these birds thrive upon, avian breakfast at Casa Creakingbones will gradually be off the menu and all of our feathered friends will depart, only to return when next the weather conditions again turn crook.

Hoo roo for now.

 

 

The current Australian Bush Fire Season has apparently started earlier than usual.

The severity of the wide ranging bush fires across the nation this season has drawn international attention  because of their ferocity and the extensive destruction of bush land and pastures, thousands of homes, thousands of farm buildings, motor vehicles and equipment together with the shocking loss of human life and the death of millions of native animals and birds.

Bush fires, drought, flood and temperature fluctuations( both up and down the centigrade scale) are common place in this wonderful country, ‘Down Under’.

Without entering into the ‘Globing Warning’, debate, our weather patterns have been written about and been the subject of verbal debate for centuries.

One only has to read Dorothea Mackellar’s epic poem, ‘My Country’,  written in 1904 to learn about ‘A Sunburnt Country’ with it’s droughts and flooding rains.

However, the poem that most sticks in my mind is Henry Lawson’s 1911 poem, ‘ A Bush Fire.’

Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson, 17/6/1867 – 2/9/22 was one of Australia’s best loved and admired writers and poets. His work centres on the Colonial Period and his novels and poems depict Australian life duringthat time.

Here is Lawson’s poem to which I refer:

I found this poem to be quite moving and its few lines so well describe the way  our bush fires spread so rapidly and with such destructive force.

I encourage you to read more of Henry Lawson’s works and I’m sure you will also enjoy those of Dorothea Mackellar.

Hoo roo for now,

Perc

The Australian landmass has always been well known for its droughts, floods and bushfires.

The country has been enduring extreme drought conditions for over a year now and water restrictions at various levels have been implemented in many areas.

Although Casa Creakingbones is connected to the town water supply, many years ago SWMBO and I had contractors sink a bore and we also installed three 20,000 litre rainwater tanks. These mesures have ensured that at least we can  retain some green grass around the house and if circumstances require it, our rain water tanks can be utilised for drinking water and household use.

Fortunately, our town is generally not endangered by bush or grass fires.

However, for the past few weeks many areas of Australia have been ravaged by ferocious bush fires including areas less than 100 klms from here.

The South Coast of New South Wales is a summer/Christmas/New Year holliday destination for thousands of people and its beaches and natural beauty are second to none.

However horrendous bush fires are now burning across hundreds of kilometers of the South Coast with mass evacuations and power, communications , fuel and food either unavailable or in short supply. Over 50,000 homes along the South Coast are now without power.

Since last Monday the 30th December 2019, seven people have perished in the fires, people are missing,  small towns have been totally destroyed and hundreds of houses and out buildings have been razed to the ground by the fires.

The Bush Fire Brigade volunteers and professional firefighters are doing a magnificant job protecing property and saving lives. They are being assisted by the armed forces who have been committed by ther Prime Minister, Scott Morison.

Total fire bans have been declared in many areas of the State, including our local government area. This means that even the outside use of BBQ’s is totally prohibited.

The main impact on us is air quality. For a few weeks now, like the Sydney metropolitan area, many  town on what is known as The South West Slopes have have been enveloped in smoke haze generated by the bush fires.

As we are residents of the South West Slopes, air quality has become a major problem, particularly for sufferers of asthma of whom I am one. Venturing outside for any length of time is risky, particularly if physical activity is involved.

Here are a few images taken around Casa Creakingbones in the last week or so:

SUNRISE ON 31/12/19

 

The weather forecast for next Saturday, 4th January, 2020 is for temperatures in excdess of 40 degress celsius or 104 degrees farenheight if you haven’t gone metric.

Either way, it’s going to be bloody hot.

However, please spare a thought for the people across NSW and the rest of Australia who have lost everything in these dreadful fires.

Hoo roo for now.