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PPSadmin2017-08-20T10:52:47+00:00August 20th, 2017|

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The home, life, garden + studio of Pebbles Ink - Writer, avid bird photographer + storyteller ❣️ Blown away by nature daily 🤯

We had a wonderful few days in Canberra spending t

We had a wonderful few days in Canberra spending time with my most favourite peeps in the world, @aaronfrieser + @nakitania

Big thanks to them for showing us the very best of Canberra. We ate some sensational food, saw some fabulous history, wandered some beautiful parks and they showed incredible patience while I consistently kept everyone waiting while I took my 300+ bird pics.

I photographed 43 species, 11 of them lifers, and just enjoyed a change of scenery, some chilly weather and their insanely great company.

Home again now. Took me 3 days to edit my pics and whittle it down from over 1000 🥴 Here are some of my favourites - it was extremely hard to narrow down to 20!

#birdsofcanberra #visitcanberra #canberra #birdsofinstagram

Weather changes quick… I had started to head ba

Weather changes quick…

I had started to head back. Then got distracted by these cuties (swipe). Then got really wet.

I’m guesstimating we’ve got another 2 weeks until the beginning of the dry… I think I will even miss it.

#topend #wetseason

These two little freshies were like wax statues at

These two little freshies were like wax statues at the edge of Fogg Dam. They were quite the celebrities, people piling out of their cars to take photos.

Now, I have a zoom, so when I take photos I am quite a distance away, but I was blown away at how close some people were getting to these guys. I actually called back a young girl who ran over and was within a meter of one of them.

Peeps, please… these guys are wild animals. Not tourist attractions behind glass at a zoo! While freshies have the reputation of being somewhat harmless, they are unpredictable and even I would snap back if someone got that close to me. It totally does my head in that parents are not paying attention and in some case even more clueless than their kids.

One day someone will get hurt and the poor freshie will be the one that gets blamed. I love being able to go to Fogg Dam and sharing the space with them (at a distance). It’s such a magical place with so much wildlife.

So please. Take a step back. It’s great to get a photo of these guys but not at their expense. Rant over.

On a positive note. Love their eyes just peaking out above the water. 🐊🐊 👁️👁️

#foggdam #crocodiles #topend

I was itching to get outside today. With so much r

I was itching to get outside today. With so much rain I have really been missing the adventures. Having said that, even when the rain abates, birds have been scarce and the light so glarey it’s hard to get good shots as the light is either too low or casts a glaring silhouette.

Always willing to improvise though, so today, crabs became my focus. They don’t mind the wet so they were a little more accommodating.

It was low tide at the mangrove boardwalk and quite the variety of crabs. I think my favourite was the little Blue Mangrove crab, but the little white Fiddler Crab was a cutie too and put its ‘pearl’ on for us. It’s actually quite interesting to see how many colours and types there are!

#crab #northernterritory #topendtravel

The Gardens Road Cemetery - Darwin, NT I have alw

The Gardens Road Cemetery - Darwin, NT

I have always wondered about this little cemetery, wedged in between the golf course, sports field and botanical gardens.

This morning I was walking home from the Botanic Gardens so decided to have a look. The lure of birds may have had something to do with it.

I know it sounds morose, but I quite like cemeteries, especially old ones like this. There is a strange sort of beauty in the silent stories told by the medley of markers of a life once lived.

This cemetery is the remnants of the town cemetery with graves from 1919 to 1970.

The interesting thing were the nationalities represented - Greek, Japanese, Chinese, aboriginal - many pioneers of Darwin.

Reading the epitaph’s always puts a little lump in my throat… ‘Chico’… ‘darling daddy of little Peter’… but that’s the beauty - 73 years later here I am reading it and wondering about ‘Chico’, 25, and what ‘accidentally killed’ him? I wondered enough I actually Googled it. He was working for a house removalists - standing on the roof, he touched the high tension wire and was electrocuted.

‘One of nature’s gentlemen, young and loving, happy and gay’ - lovely words to be remembered by.

My favourite was the rickety old stick cross under a tree - if I can be so morose as to have a favourite.

On a positive note, there were some Bush Stone-curlews hanging around so I said hi to them - though looked like one of them was giving me the stink eye, maybe I was taking to much joy in reading the epitaphs - I can’t be sure.

A snapshot of Darwin’s history.

Been so busy with work lately I’ve missed apprec

Been so busy with work lately I’ve missed appreciating some of the things I love so much about the top end. I caught a glimpse and stopped mid-dinner prep to take a moment to enjoy. Wet season sunsets are always sensational (when the sun does actually come out).

#darwin #topend #sunsetsofinstagram

I am so utterly in love with this dear little crea

I am so utterly in love with this dear little creature and I’m not embarrassed to say there were tears when I did the second release attempt yesterday and he reunited with his sister.

This is Maximillian. A few weeks ago I release him and his sister (Madeline) - two Dollarbird rescues.

All was well for nearly a week but we had had some torrid weather and on a walk with the dog one evening he flew over to me clearly in distress, and a hurt eye. I’m not sure what happened but between the injury and the storms I think he hadn’t been able to feed as actively and was left weak and in need of some nurturing. I hadn’t seen Madeline since her release so even though she was the stronger of the two, I was worried for her.

I have spent every day since trying to get Maxi to strengthen his hawking skills and he was catching everything I would flick to him - it’s been fabulous to see his improvement.

I’m going away for a few weeks so I had to make a decision about his care as not knowing where Madeline was or if she was even still alive, I didn’t want to release him on his own. Then something quite magical happened - Madeline reappeared!

She had heard his calls so every afternoon she would visit and sit on the antenna close by. I would have like to have released him there and then but with massive storms and rains predicted, I waited, until today. I was getting nervous as she didn’t appear like usual. So I decided to release Maxi anyway. At first he just sat on a branch and waited. and then he heard her!

A few moments later they were on the antenna together. It was such an incredible moment. I saw them all afternoon together in the neighbourhood - I couldn’t be happier. I have a few people on look out if anything goes wrong while I’m away but overjoyed at this outcome. Nature. There is so much we do not know.

Heart flutters…

©️ Petra Hughes. All rights reserved.

#dollarbird #australianbirds #birdsofinstagram

Come release day, you can never guarantee that eve

Come release day, you can never guarantee that everything will go as planned.

You nurture them for weeks, you think they are ready and you wait for the right conditions - you can’t do any more - the rest is up to them. But it doesn’t always work it how you imagined.

Terence came to me a week ago. He was found dripping wet and exhausted splayed out on the rocks as the tide was coming in right on dusk. A young champ climbed down the cliff and rescued it and I took him from there. He had a few little injuries but X-rays showed he was fine and just needed to rest and get strong.

So today was the day for release. He was looking really strong and was itching to be free. So took him back to East Point where he was found. Found a few of his tribe and off he went. He looked so good. Flew strong. Couldn’t ask for more.

I watched him from a distance with the binoculars and then strangely, instead of landing on the rocks and surveying his domain, he suddenly turned out to sea and did a dive for a fish. That would have been fine but he totally misjudged it and from the other side of the rocks I could see he was struggling to get out.

It took us a bit to get over to him and I really didn’t think I would find him when we did but finally saw a dot in the water, struggling to keep afloat. I climbed down the rocks into the water and after a few minutes the surf sent him in my direction enough to scoop him out of the water. Poor little thing was sodden. So back home, dry off and take two another day.

Terence is still immature and my theory is that he was separated from his parents in the storms and had not quite fully learnt how to fend for himself just yet. Life is tough for the little ones out there. I’m going away so he’s off to another carer tomorrow who has a tern as well so hopefully they can learn off each other and next time will be more successful.

#rescuebirds #shorebirds #northernterritory

Always drive past this one but it was one of the m

Always drive past this one but it was one of the more surprising waterfalls and well worth the stop.

Green Ant Creek + Tjaetaba Falls

It’s a lovely easy walk through rainforest to rock pools at the top of the waterfall.

I was surprised by the field of wet season curcumas which lined a good part of the walk along Green Ant Creek - and yes, I can report with authority that there are green ants as one of the buggers bit my toe 😑

Gorgeous spot - your own infinity pool right in the middle of nature. Stunning!

#topendtravel #litchfield #northernterritory

Wet season adds another layer to the Litchfield wa

Wet season adds another layer to the Litchfield waterfalls. The ferocity of the water is quite entrancing.

We did a quick visit to Wangi Falls. It was closed for swimming and with the volume of water coming down, you can understand why.

Magic.

#topendtravel #litchfield #northernterritory

Thought we would start off the new year with a lit

Thought we would start off the new year with a little roadie to Litchfield National Parks. We’ve had a bit of rain over the last few weeks and the first real wet season for me so we were keen to see some of the waterfalls as well as visit some of the lesser known places that we often say we should stop at but never do.

We are in our third year in the Top End now. It was only ever supposed to be one year but we loved it so much decided to stay two, which has now crept into a third. But this will be our last year so keen to get out and see everything we still have left to see as well as get in some extra birding.

Our first stop was at Bamboo Creek Tin Mine. It was actually really cool wandering around the remnants of this little abandoned tin mine. Always makes me wonder how they discovered something like this in the middle of nowhere.

It was a bit drizzly but that’s the great thing about the top end wet… you are already sweating from the humidity so the rain doesn’t s actually quite refreshing!

Some pics from the tin mine.

#topendtravel #litchfield #northernterritory

It was good-bye day for Karl yesterday. This one

It was good-bye day for Karl yesterday.

This one was a bit of a sad one for me as while it was a move towards release day it was prompted by necessity rather than readiness but sometimes you need to act in the best interest of the bird rather than what you want.

Karl came to me after Cyclone Fina as nestling. Karl is a Pacific Koel and was sharing a nest with a Magpie Lark, both of which came down with a fallen tree. I did the initial pick up and after a vet check he came home with me. His foster brother, Mark, didn’t make it. 😔

Pacific Koel’s are brood parasitics - they lay an egg in a host nest, in this case a Magpie Lark and then the host parent will care for this monster child.

All was well until the day I released Anthaea, an injured Torresian Imperial Pigeon that Karl had shared the aviary with. What I didn’t realise was that while I was feeding him, he had actually imprinted on Anthaea. So the day I released her was the day he hated me and never took food from me again. He went from full dependence to nada. He would become so distressed when I entered the aviary that I feared he would hurt himself. So the next week became about how to manage him and encourage him to self feed - from a distance. We decided the best thing for him was to relocated him for pre-release. Giving him the opportunity to be around other birds (and Koels) and hopefully he could learn off them and have access to supplementary feed.

It is what we would have done anyway, it just happened a bit sooner. For me it was incredibly sad as that beautiful connection we had was irrevocably severed - though this too is probably better for him.

I said good-bye and he is now at his new home. It’s still a great result - he survived and that’s all that matters.

There was some discussion about whether Karl was in fact a Karlita but my understanding is that they do not develop their adult plumage until after a year so at this stage it is still either/or.

Good luck little Karl. I’ll miss you 😢

#pacifickoel #rescuebirds #birdsofdarwin

Joy can turn to heartbreak in an instant in the an

Joy can turn to heartbreak in an instant in the animal world.

This was very much the case with the arrival of Zeus and his little sibling, who I, unfortunately, did not get a chance to name.

I arrived home late the other night, only to be met with Louise in the middle of the road acting wierd. I was completely surprised when I saw she was shielding two little chicks - they were not due until the 19th - and it was only the 12th! I suspect the heat of recent weeks hurried them along. But they were so small and weak and I wondered why they had already strayed from the nest site while they were still so fragile. They usually camp there for a few days after hatching before moving on.

The answer came quickly - a brown tree snake was stalking their nest site and was still there!

So many things happened in those few short hours, I intervened at stages, but then finally decided I needed to leave them to work it out themsleves as I was only adding stress to what was already a stressful situation.

I watched helplessly from the window when the storm of all storms saw the rain come down so heavy I feared the little ones would get washed away.

Coulda, shoulda… hindsight is a wonderful thing. One of the chicks - the weaker of the two - went missing overnight. Snake, storm, flash flooding, it was just too weak… I don’t know, but I needed to let nature sort it out and while I wish the outcome was different, it is what it is.

So meet Zeus - I decided he needed a strong name. He has been through so much already - Cyclone Fina, countless storms, the searing heat.

Zeus is the God of Thunderstorms and commands the weather. He has made it this far, fingers crossed this little trooper will command his own destiny through weeks of upcoming wet season rains and make it to adulthood.

Since we have lived here, I have watched the incubation of 10 eggs. He is one of 2 that has made it so far. They are the odds.

Good luck little Zeus, may good fortune be with you.

#bushstonecurlew #nature #darwinbirds #zeus

Been a week of goodbyes to my little feathered fri

Been a week of goodbyes to my little feathered friends. Last weekend I said goodbye to my four Little Friarbirds; Benedict, Bartholomew, Benjamin + Bernardino. As well as a Bar-shouldered Dove who was a Cyclone Fina victim, Raz(amattaz).

I’ll really miss these guys. So much mischief.
They all came to me as nestlings, fallen from nests. Benedict was covered in ants and had a splinter in his leg that was infected, so he needed some tlc, eye drops and meds, Bartholomew had a damaged wing, and the other two were just in need of buddies and feeding until they worked out how to feed themselves.

They all healed, grew independent and went on to provide hours of entertainment as I watched them bath in the birdbath or tackle each other for crickets. Their song call was quite beautiful and they would often make these gorgeous calls as they preened themselves after their bath and watched me feed the Dollarbirds as if they were vying for my attention.

I would love to have taken some lovely photos but they were terrified of the phone being close to them, so dodgy phone shots it is.

Little Benjamin, the youngest, was the sweetest little soul and my keenest observer. He would always watch me intently and pick at me whenever he got the opportunity. So most of the photos are of him.

Raz, the bar-shouldered dove was the first bs dove that wasn’t terrified of me (they don’t generally bond well). He almost died one morning not long after he came into care - I think it was stress and fatigue from C.Fina, I sat and hydrated him and just held him for a while, expecting him to die in my hand but somehow he made it. So releases like these are especially rewarding.

They have gone to a property where once they have stretched their wings, they can make their forever home. Fly free little ones. What a joy it has been.

#friarbirds #rescuebirds #flyfree #darwinbirds #topendbirds

Took my Torresian Imperial Pigeon rescues, Athena

Took my Torresian Imperial Pigeon rescues, Athena and Artemis, to their pre-release home over the weekend.

It’s always a day of mixed emotions: absolute joy because they are about to be freed and the part I have played in that journey. Sadness because I will miss them - they are divine creatures - such sweet natures and even though I try not to get attached, I can’t help it. Their bravery and trust just fills my heart. And then there is the worry that they will be ok in the wild.

Both cane to me as fledglings - Athena was attacked by a dog and Artemis got dropped by a kite. They both got a second chance. Both a little wounded but recovered well.

They were both at that in between stage where they were not quite independent, so they still were not self-feeding and being a little older, they were a little fearful. Athena came to me first so it took a little bit of work to get her self-feeding but she then became the role model for Artemis so she adapted quicker.

They would make me laugh the way they would sift through the fruit bowl picking out the blueberries as if they were feeding addiction 😂.

It’s been an absolutely joy. Now for another couple weeks in a larger aviary to strengthen their wings and then freedom.

Even though they were two Torries, there were slight variances in colour - Athena, grey tint with black feet and greenish beak, Artemis, yellow tint with pink feet and yellowish beak. Dimorphism or species variant? I don’t know.

A few photos at their various stages of growth and healing. Good luck little ones - fly free 🕊️

#rescuebirds #pigeons

🦆🐦‍⬛🦅🕊️🦢🦜 BUSH STONE-CURL

🦆🐦‍⬛🦅🕊️🦢🦜
BUSH STONE-CURLEW
……………..
LARRAKEYAH, NT.

It’s going to be a tense few days watching these guys battle it through Cyclone Fina.

They are currently sharing sitting duties in their new clutch…

Joy turned to heartbreak very quickly with a few weeks back when their little family, barely a week old, was suddenly no more.

Twiggy + Stix I had named them. Cute as buttons.

Stix disappeared first on Halloween evening.
Then two days later Twiggy, the older of the pair went missing too. Crushing.

Curley + Louise wasted no time - probably keen to beat the wet. But their first egg came the same day they announced Cyclone Fina was developing.

It’s a tough gig for these guys. Louise started sitting yesterday shortly after she laid her second egg. But with Fina (currently a category 2) due to cross tomorrow and strong winds and heavy rains predicted, I’m not holding much hope for them. I’ll be watching anxiously from the hall window wishing there is something I could do - but this is nature. Hopefully they will seek shelter and at least save themselves.

Heart flutters…

©️ Petra Hughes. All rights reserved.

#bushstonecurlews #darwinbirds #australianbirds #birds #nature #bird #wildlife #birdphotography #birdsofinstagram #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #birdwatching #canon #birdlovers #birding #raw_birds #total_birds #naturelovers #naturelovers #ausgeo #bestbirdshots #nuts_about_birds #rebels_nature #feather_perfection #YourShotAUNZ #your_best_birds

One of the things I love about Darwin is that ther

One of the things I love about Darwin is that there is a festival pretty much every other weekend during the dry season, celebrating the many cultures and nationalities that make up the Darwin community.

But I think the lantern festival is probably my favourite… something about things that light up the night that appeals to me.

Anyway, here are a few pics.

#darwin #darwinnt #topend #lanternfestival #visitingdarwin #northernterritory

Ludwig. Another little trooper on his path to rele

Ludwig. Another little trooper on his path to release this week. This little guy nearly didn’t make it. And I’m actually really surprised he did.

When I picked him up to take to the vet, he pretty much couldn’t move. I fully expected he would be euthanised.

No one was more surprised than me when the vet told me a few weeks later he was ready to come home for rehabilitation. I was ecstatic!

Ludwig is a Red-collared Lorikeet and had Lorikeet Paralysis Syndrome (LPS). They don’t really know what causes it - possible exposure to toxic plants but they just don’t know. He couldn’t move, and couldn’t even blink. The last pic in the series is of when he was picked up.

Wild North Vets are amazing. They nurtured him back to health and then I took him on for a few weeks until he had put on body fat and gain strength. He still wasn’t flying.

We didn’t get along at first - Ludwig was a bit of a jerk and I got savaged a few times trying to feed him. But as the days went on, he would warily observe my interactions with Edward (my blue-faced honeyeater rescue) and now, while still coy, he became quite gentle and sweet and I could at least change his food and clean his cage without risk of injury lol.

While he learned off Edward, Edward also learned off him and became a much more confident eater. Ludwig especially loved the mistletoe berries I would collect for him.

Edward and Ludwig became quite good friends and they are currently in an aviary together with a new carer, strengthening their wings. Ludwig will buddy up with a fellow lorikeet that is recovering from a broken wing so they can fly free together when the time comes.

I don’t have many photos of Ludwig as I tried not to handle him too much - to return to the wild successfully they need to retain that element of fear.

It’s been an emotional weekend parting with my two rescues but it has been a joy to be part of their journeys.

#rescuebird #lorikeet #birdsofaustralia

🦆🐦‍⬛🦅🕊️🦢🦜 GREAT BOWERBIRD

🦆🐦‍⬛🦅🕊️🦢🦜
GREAT BOWERBIRD
……………..
NITMILUK, NT

We had the most wonderful long weekend at Nitmiluk National Park. So many highlights and seeing this Great Bowerbird hard at work trying to impress his lady love was one of them.

They are such a wonder to watch. Their ritual is almost farcical but no less impressive!

To start with, their bower, a wonder of construction, and then the array of organised white and green… um, litter… that was scattered through and around it, was an impressive ecological statement!

Bottle tops, silicon tube nibs, aluminium foil balls, nails and other building materials, broken green bottles, green nuts and even poo… I mean this bird was trying everything!

His spectacular pink and purple crown - which was folded to a nice neat line - would fan out as he paraded his dominance over the three other suitors that threatened to move in and take advantage of all his hard work - or was he taking advantage of theirs?

Regardless, lady love was playing hard to get and when he got his last item out of his bag of tricks, she had gone.

An absolute treat to watch!

Heart flutters…

©️ Petra Hughes. All rights reserved.

#bowerbird #nitmiluk #darwin #topend #australianbirds #birds #nature #bird #wildlife #birdphotography #birdsofinstagram #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #birdwatching #canon #birdlovers #birding #naturelovers #naturelovers #ausgeo #bestbirdshots #nuts_about_birds #rebels_nature #feather_perfection #YourShotAUNZ #your_best_birds

There were so many highlights to our Kakadu road t

There were so many highlights to our Kakadu road trip over the weekend it’s hard to decide what to post.

Ubirr was another standout. It is an aboriginal rock art site with a walk that leads up to the lookout where you can look out over the Nadab floodplain.

Wow!

I have to admit, I recognised the view from many movies. It really is just stunning - the vivid green from recently receded flood waters, charred tree trunks from recent burns, the ochre escarpment - the blend of colours are such a pleasure to the eye. The photos just don’t do it justice.

The aboriginal art was really interesting too - in particular the one depicting a Tassy tiger (thylacine) - though I guess that doesn’t make it a Tassy tiger at all 😳

We weren’t going to stop in as it was quite late in the day but so glad we did. Great spot to watch the sunset!

#ubirr #kakadu #rockart #topendtravel #northernterritory

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