No, we haven’t moved back in, and it isn’t a new bird on the Abberton list.
But, after the creek at our place was so ravaged on January 10th, everything ripped out for 10 to 15 metres on both sides of the former creek bank to a depth of around 4 metres in places, along with everything it contained, trees big and small, the soil itself, every nook and tunnel that was a home to bird, mammal, amphibian or reptile, all this to an extent that made it almost unthinkable that anything once there could possibly have survived along our 300m creek frontage, or the 30km or so upstream and downstream that were similarly devastated – a platypus has returned!
A truly uplifting moment, standing by the creek musing on how to proceed with the restoration of this once special habitat that held such an abundance of life, when a platypus just pottered by, practically at our feet, just the way they have been doing for the 25 or so years we’ve lived at Abberton and for all the millennia that they lived here before us or anybody else.
I won’t wax on, but my word it’s a great country this!
As to the birds, whipbirds and yellow robins are still here, a rose robin too, lots of small passerines, shrike-thrushes calling beautifully, Black-fronted Dotterels, Hardheads, ducks and egrets and such on the creek, Brown Quail are noisy and obvious just now, plenty of passing raptors as ever including a regular Square-tailed Kite over the last month or so.
When we get back in (later this year?) I’ll be able to make a more considered assessment of the changes to habitat and wildlife. We’ve planted 1800 tube stock along the creek bank over the last few weeks, but the forested parts have been thinned out by about 80% too, so there’s another few thousand plantings to go!
However, it’s an ill-wind – I think we might end up getting some new Abberton birds out of all this!
Bill Jolly ===============================
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