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PPSadmin2019-11-12T11:29:17+00:00November 12th, 2019|

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pebblesink

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

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

We did a little weekend roadie to Jabiru - Kakadu

We did a little weekend roadie to Jabiru - Kakadu National Park. The plan was to sneak in a little birding AND to try and catch my first barramundi.

We made the most of our time and saw as much as we could, but the absolute stand out was our fishing trip up East Alligator River - the river that runs through the infamous croc infested Cahills Crossing.

Wow! What a magical waterway and if you want to see crocs, it doesn’t disappoint. We saw at least ten, including a little nosey-parker that sidled in and sneakily watched us fish for Barra from a distance.

It was hard for me to focus on one thing, between the absolutely stunning scenery, the crocs, trying to fish and then take photos of the Great-billed Heron and juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle, I was juggling rods, cameras, phones and my jaw that kept dropping on every bend in the river as it opened up to a glorious new vista. Oh, and the buffalo back at the boat ramp!

As the sun began to wane I finally caught my Barra but I boasted all the way back about my 3 assists - which consisted of two helps with the net and one pity pull in (just incase I didn’t catch one). We can caught 8 Barra between us, kept 2 and there were plenty that got away. Sensational.

The best part was yet to come as we headed home and the sun cast a golden glow that mirrored the incredible landscape onto the water. It’s hard to imagine anything more beautiful.

Every day I fall a little bit more in love with the Top End and the place, for now, that we call home. It’s just magic!

Incredibly big thanks to @haydon.james.7 @jodiiscully @nakitania
You guys rock!

#kakadu #cahillscrossing #eastalligatorriver #barrafishing #gonefishin #topendnt

Always fun looking back. Bit late but it’s been

Always fun looking back. Bit late but it’s been a busy month 😊

#darwin #topend #northernterritory #australiantraveller #reels

This is little Paz and Baz. Paz is a Peaceful Dove

This is little Paz and Baz. Paz is a Peaceful Dove and Baz is a Bar-shouldered dove.

They both came to me when they were a few weeks old - rescues that needed a mamma.

It’s been a joy to watch them both grown. While both doves, their personalities couldn’t be more different.

Paz (the little one) is personality plus. Full of mischief and cheeky as. While I would clean their cage he would fly out and hop all over me and then usually rest on my head and shoulder while I sorted everything.

Baz, well it was a month of 50 first dates with him 🙄. He was much more reserved. Everything frightened him - but I was happy to allow that as it will serve him better in the wild.

The aim is to release them and give them the best possible chance at survival in the wild. Paz imprinted because he came into care at a much younger age and it is difficult to hand-rear these tiny little creatures and not have them bond with you.

The great news is they have survived and now self-feed and are ready to be released - many don’t get that far.

So today I had to put my big girl panties on and take them to another carer with a larger aviary for pre-release so they can strengthen their wings and adapt to being around other birds - and not me.

Mixed emotions. Happy they are going to be wild and free, sad as they have been part of our family. And a little bit of fear - hopeful that they will be ok. They will be released on a property so they will at least be safe from dogs and cats.

It’s been a magical and meaningful journey.

Fly free little guys - I will miss them 🥰
#rescuebirds #doves

Embraced our inner Darwin today and went down to w

Embraced our inner Darwin today and went down to watch the annual Beer Can Regatta at Mindil Beach. Such a fun afternoon. Lots of giggles… Slappa’s Thong Throw, ‘Rob + Tug’ won the tug of war, the beer can boats and good ol’ NT marketing. There were even some crocs in the water 😉.

Great day out! Some pics of the day.

#beercanregatta #darwin #mindilbeach #topeendtravel #nt #darwin #topend #kingsbirthdayweekend

🦆🐦‍⬛🦅🕊️🦢🦜 RED-TAILED BLAC

🦆🐦‍⬛🦅🕊️🦢🦜
RED-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO
……………..
LEANYER PIPELINE, NT

I went to walk the Leanyer pipeline in search of Striated Pardalotes - there were a whole heap the other week flitting in and out of the long grass. But it’s funny how the bird landscape changes and one week can be prolific in one species and the next something totally else and that always makes me wonder why is it different?

It was obvious when I got out of the car that something had changed. There were literally dozens of kites - Black and Whistling - circling over what was the field of gamba grass.

There had been a burn off at the first part of the walk and I assume they were circling for rodents and other prey as grass that was last week nearly two metres high, was now charred remains.

It was now also the prefect spot for Red-tailed Black Cockatoos - and there were masses of them, easily over one hundred. It was insane. There were flying around, in trees, in the scrub and foraging in the charred remains. There were literally everywhere.

While it was a bit of a photographers dream, it was actually really hard to get a good shot. To position myself so I wasn’t shooting into the sun I had to get on the other side of them.

That’s when I realised that there were also dozens foraging in the ashes - black on black - not easy to see at first glance. And of course, once they take flight, well, autofocus can only do so much. It’s just chaos!

And, while they were flying low, the shrubbery made it hard to get a clear shot. Excuses excuses…

Moreover I spent most of the time just watching them in wonder. They are quite a spectacle to see in such large numbers. Think Alfred Hitchcock ‘Birds’ without the angry birds - though the thought did cross my mind that if they were angry then the the kites circling overhead in phenomenal numbers may just clean me up if things turned south.

Anyway, I made it home safe and sound.

One or two good pics and a bunch of duds - trying to get those gorgeous splayed out tail feathers is harder than you think!

But, you know, I like trying so I’ll stick at it for a bit 😉

Here are some pics (including some of the duds)

Heart flutters…

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