The temperature at my place reached the mid 40s Celsius on Wednesday, and again today. Today was rated a day of Extreme Fire Danger in my part of the country, and Catastrophic in other areas. I’m so sad for everyone and everything impacted by the fires.
I took photographs of thirsty birds hanging out at my birdbaths on Wednesday. I’d planned to share them in today’s post but we took the advice of our local fire brigade and left home early this morning. I’m still with the lovely family who always make me and my dog feel extremely welcome. The drama continued though when a rogue grape bounced on the floor in front of my dog’s nose. She found it irresistible! As a single grape can be fatal for a dog off I raced to the vet, with little Miss 6 keeping me company and being very helpful.
The cool change came, dropping the temperature dramatically, bringing down more trees and eventually meaning that we were among the lucky people who were able to head home tonight.
Satin Bowerbirds turned up here for the first time almost two years ago. I’m still delighted every time I see them. On Wednesday there were three or four of them with various plumage differences that I’ll check more closely when I can. They are exquisite birds.
I’ll hopefully share more birdbath photographs and ideas next week, right now I’m a bit concerned about taking my dog out for her late night pee as there is a dry lighting storm raging. It’s been an interesting day.
Stay cool and safe, happy birding, Kim
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Every living being suffers in these extreme events and when I checked all the water bowls, one thing I found is the water heats up and, therefore, needs to be changed regularly to keep it cool and safe.
We have possums in our trees and so they too enjoy cool water close at hand but the temperatures of the last few days, so hot that it left you struggling to breathe, brought out these nocturnal animals seeking a cool place and I found a little ringtail immersed in the bird bath struggling to keep cool.
I wrapped it in a towel and placed it in a box in a cool room of the house with fresh water and some apple. It stayed until evening when I returned it to its favourite tree.
This beautiful Satin Bowerbird is so lucky to have found a special place in your garden.
Whether we check water bowls, keep water cool and plentiful, check on our favourite animals, ring people living alone or simply keep helping where needed, it is so important in these difficult times to stay informed, connected and, if needed, always ask for help.
The birds that frequent our garden, the possums that enjoy a safe space, our much-loved furry family members and the elderly neighbour are all eternally grateful.
A world full of compassion, understanding and kindness is a world we all would want to give to our precious children and a world Miss 6 and her friends deserve.
Stay safe
I keep the water cool in the birdbaths too Barbara, it gets hot surprisingly quickly sometimes. Ringtails suffer so badly in the heat. Something larger than usual tried to drink from one of my birdbaths the other night and knocked the bath from the pedestal – quite unnecessarily as I have water available at ground level too! Thanks for all the good points you make, Kim
Super beautiful birds. Such amazing eyes!
Like little gems aren’t they 🙂