One of the lovely things about living where I live is the abundant bird and other native wildlife which I have the blessing and delight of coming into contact with on a fairly regular basis.
This past week has been a particularly busy one....firstly I have had a nest of the New Holland Honeyeater in the tree just outside my loungeroom window. The eggs hatched earlier in the week and I have been enjoying the parents feeding their young ones. Anyway, this morning when I got up and went to see what they were up to, they were not in the nest, but on the ground near their tree. I phoned the wonderful staff at Healesville Sanctuary to see what they thought I should do. Their advice was to put them back in the nest and to watch to see what happened. So I called on my trusty friend Lucy who is a wonderful wildlife lover and she came and helped me return them to the nest. Sadly, one of them fell out again...so I was on the phone to Healesville and to cut an already too long story short, I drove to Healesville with said chick in shoebox. I will add here, that all the while the chicks were on the ground, the parents only seemed to be interested to feed one of them. It was the one which the parents weren't feeding which ended up on the ground again. So, Healesville Vet fed the chick some crickets dipped in nectar....NOTE: Stop reading this now if you have a weak stomach !!...the vet picked off the crickets head and legs, dipped their bodies in nectar and popped them in the chicks mouth one by one...and boy was this little guy hungry...so the vet suggested I bring the chick home and try to put it back in the nest...so I came home and guess what....the other chick is out of the nest and I can't find it....urrgggggghhhh...now what? I call my friend Lucy who says she'll come around again and help pop this other chick in the nest...so I am writing this whilst I wait.
This is a photo of the little guy (or gal) waiting to be put back in the nest (again!).
So to my story from earlier in the week...I was driving back to Healesville from a home visit and am drving along the major road into the town when across the road is waddling one of these little guys...
yes it is an Echidna (or spiny anteater)....another cute (despite the spikes) Aussie native animal...and strangely enough, in the same family as the Platypus... So, the cars are slowing down and swerving to miss the little guy....so I just HAVE to stop...the thought of seeing him on my way home semi flattened was not a thought I wanted to contemplate....so I pulled over to the side and hopped out of the car....all the while watching that I didn't get squashed under a car myself...not a pretty sight!...and helped him along his merry ant-eating way....the number of cars banked back along Maroondah Highway was a sight to behold...so that is a little of my excitement for the week...will be back again to update you on the birds and my wonderful Friday. Till then..
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