Pied Currawong Behavior Finally Explained

I finally have an answer to a question I first posed back in August of 2016. We visited the Japanese Garden in Toowoomba, QLD and spied a pair of Pied Currawongs engaged in a rather strange behavior. The original post and the the photos are found here.

Stick Your Head Out the Door!

Here's what we have to look forward to in Seattle. Think it might rain?

Movin' On

Tomorrow, we leave Toowoomba and Queensland for points south. Our house sit here has ended and we start a two-day drive south to Lemon Tree Passage.

At the Movies

Went to see Dr. Strange at the cinema. It was a fun ride and Benedict C. did a great job. I thought that a time or two the special effects were moving so fast across the screen that I was going to loose my lunch. But the story was fun and it is clear that several of these are in the works.

A Drive in the Country

It finally warmed a little and we had ourselves a bit of a drive in the country side just outside of Toowoomba. Just south of town on the New England Highway is a turnout from which it is possible to look south and east across some truly wonderful farmland.

Shopping

Mozzarella cheese in Australia is very different from what we are used to. I thought that all mozzarella was made from buffalo's milk since this is all that we get in the US. It makes a creamy white cheese with a distinctive but subtle flavor.

Backyard Visitor

Since spring is well underway here, it the time of year to watch for those winter-sleeper, reptiles and amphibians. We recently found a Common Blue Tongue lizard in the backyard - also known as a "bluey".

Insects in the Backyard

We were visited by some manner of critter in the backyard here in Toowoomba. the video doesn't show anything but bush, but the noise is certainly loud and persistent. Of course, given the reputation Australia has for deadly things, I choose not to stick my hand in to find him.

After talking with our neighbor about what this might be, he went out and caught one cause this is what Australians do. It is a Bladder Cicada. It is about two long with large green wings. It looks like a leaf, hence the reason they are so hard to see. With vibrating diaphragms on both sides and the large bladder in the back to resonate the sound, that certainly are loud. You can read more about them over at the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.

A Ride Through the Country

The sun finally came out and we took a bit of a ride though the country. Out past Spring Bluff where we gave up in the rain before, we went down to Murphy's Creek.

Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery III

There are come very interesting graves in this cemetery. This one, made of brick, give the odd appearance of a barbecue.

Spring Bluff in the Rain

We're having a spot of weather here. You may have heard that a big weather system moved through South Australia the other day and that entire state lost power. We have been getting rain, although clearly not of that magnitude. One day clear, the next soft.

Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery II

Some of the graves in the Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery are marked very modestly. Others are grander.

Drayton & Toowoomba Cemetery

We realized recently that there is a large cemetery in Toowoomba, one of the oldest ones in Queensland. It is also significantly larger than the ones we've explored in Australia so far. So we traveled to the western side of Toowoomba to investigate.

Table Mountain

Soon after we arrived in Toowoomba, we had an evening with our neighbors and over wine and finger-food, we talked. One of our neighbors, John, is a teacher with a degree in biology and loves, as do all Australians as near as I can tell, to go for a walk. He offered to take us on a walk to Table Mountain. Weather and travel got in the way, Elizabeth realized that it is a hard walk and backed out. I did not. We've finally made the excursion. Above you see the top of the extinct volcano and a short section of the track to the top.

Glen Lomond and Duggan Parks

Toowoomba sits on the crest of the Great Dividing Range. Along the eastern face of the mountains where there is a sharp drop down to the Lockyer Valley are a series of parks. We recently visited a couple of these parks: Glen Lomond and Duggan.

Carnival of Flowers Parade

The Carnival of Flowers is an excuse for the city of Toowoomba to metaphorically put on shorts and a tee-shirt (actually people wear these all winter) and bask in the spring warmth. Since The Friday before and the Sunday after this Saturday were rainy and cold, it has to be done in a hurry.

At the Anglican Church (St. Luke's) there was, in addition to the sale of flowers, there was a sale of woolen good in the fellowship hall.

Queen's Park Botanic Garden

With the arrival of spring is the blossoming of the Queen's Park Botanic Gardens in East Toowoomba. We went out on a misty morning to catch a few of the flowers at their best.

Australian Pelicans at Cooby Dam

A visit to Cooby Dam with warmer weather finds the Australian Pelican in full form.

Got a Sweet Tooth?

There is a kiosk store in the Toowoomba Grand Central shopping center called Donut King. They sell coffee and donuts. Seriously sweet donuts covered with multiple layers of sugar disguised in party colors.

Even the people I know with a significant sweet tooth probably can't get though more than one of these without sugar coma. There's something of the British love of sweets here that is ramped up in the southern heat.

On some of these, the "icing" is thicker than the cake underneath. My teeth hurt just thinking about it.

Spring Bluff

Just a ways north of Toowoomba is a small, old train station that has been converted to a cafe. The grounds around it are filled with flowers in bloom.