A sad wallaby tale

A month ago I posted a photo of a little Swamp Wallaby with a badly-wounded 'elbow' outside the office.  The next time we saw him he was looking very sick and the wound had swelled up, but a few days later there he was again, swelling had gone down and he was looking much better.  Today on their walk our guests found him in a very, very bad way and close to the end so very sadly we put him out of his obvious agony.  On a happier note his 'missus' and her fast-growing joey are now regular visitors to the bungalows much to the joy of everyone, especially the folks from overseas.  This is not our 'current' family but one I snapped a while ago.

Golden Whistler

It's lovely to see so many birds returning to the valley and this afternoon I spent an hour or so wandering around the gardens with the camera.  Spotted this 'new' (for me) bird next to one of the bungalows and I am fairly sure it is a Golden Whistler, probably a female juvenile.   (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong).  We have often seen Grey Whistlers here but I read that the Golden species normally inhabits higher rainforest although they sometimes come down to the coastal rainforest during winter.

... and here comes the Jade Vine

More and more of the Flame of the Forest is starting to bloom and now we are getting glimpses of aquamarine as the Jade Vine starts to open up.  Both vines are well intermingled so it promises to be a beautiful display soon.  In the next few weeks we should start to see more and more species of birds as spring approaches - already dozens of Rainbow Bee-eaters are having a great time swooping over the wetlands-dam chasing insects.