Today I was reminded of the privileged and luxurious lifestyle I enjoy. I am not talking about wealth or status, but the rich environment I enjoy. I had a birdie guest staying for a night who took me for a walk through the rainforest. She was so enthralled seeing the birds she had never seen before, it reignited my appreciation of the wonderful environment I enjoy here. Thanks Lynn. She saw two golden bower birds at their bowers widely separated. I was with her when we came across a rifle bird just 20m from my house, practising his moves. It was sitting on a power pole just outside my house. In case you don’t know, it has the most amazing display by forming a perfect umbrella with its wings and dancing around hopping from side to side and flashing brilliant plumage colours. A rap dancer in technicolour.
Yesterday I came across a 1.5m children’s python near one of the cottages. It was moving very slowly because of the cool temps. At breakfast I was entertained by a Lewin’s honeyeater that caught a large moth in the bathroom and then brought it into the dining area just 2 meters away to thrash it about to get the wings off before devouring it. A few minutes later a white-browed scrub wren was hopping around the floor looking for tiny morsels. They keep a respectful distance of a couple of meters away, but have realised that compared to their speed and awareness, I move at glacial pace and am not a threat. I am quite prepared to sweep up discarded moth wings and other occasional deposits.
Platypus , thanks Fiona
I see wallabies/paddymelons/betongs/other little brown hoppy things many times in a day. Often from my house. Even in their relaxed moments when they are scratching and grooming, they are totally aware of their surroundings and any non-familiar sight sound or smell arouses them to the alert state ready to flee. Halfway through that last sentence I heard a possum in the kitchen and went to evict it. It was wary when I was 2m away but stayed put. It was anxious when I moved closer but didn’t move if I advanced very slowly. Finally we were looking at each other from 1 meter away, nose to nose. Then I politely asked it to leave and it bolted. The wrong way. It couldn’t remember the way it had come in and ran to closed doors. I had to herd it out of the only open door. The birds are smarter in that respect.
In the world now more than half the world’s population live in cities, a large proportion of the rest in major towns, and sizable villages. I cannot imagine what it is like to raise kids in a city, on the 11th floor of an apartment block with hardly a living thing in sight. I am so lucky to live in such a spacious, dynamic and wild environment. (A lot of people think that luck just happens. Actually it usually takes a lot of hard work to prepare the space for it to blossom). I am so pleased to be able to raise my kids in such an environment, all their lives until they went to uni. In the forest, in the rain, in the mud and sometimes even in the sunshine. I think it was a good exposure to a reality outside the human constructed domain. They in turn take their kids to places where the mud can ooze through the toes.
Speak Your Mind