The walk from what is my new home for the next few months
to and from the free camp at Julia Creek takes 25 minutes and is only one third
of the distance I’ve set for my daily walk.
So far I haven’t achieved my goal since arriving, but I look
forward to this dawn ramble.
A black kite
continually patrols the skies over the area between the town and the free
camp. Black kites seem to be one of the
most common kites in North Queensland, and are definitely the most common kite
in the world with an estimated global population of 6 million. Their rough sticky nests are commonly seen
high in tall trees.
They are the kites you see hovering on the edge of smokey fires where they hunt escaping animals.
Last Saturday we drove
out to the Fullarton River Bridge on the Julia Creek -Cloncurry Road. During the last rains the road was cut
because of flooding. The water has now
receded but the channels are still running, the insect population has
exploded, small birds are nesting. A
cauldron of black kites was soaring above the river. There were dozens, possibly hundreds of
them. No other Australian bird of prey
is seen in such large flocks and it is a wonderful sight.
Black kites are curious
birds. As I lifted the camera to try to focus
on them against the hot blue of the afternoon sky they moved directly over me
and floated in ascending spirals watching as I attempted to photograph them
with my woefully inadequate camera.
They are also wily birds. Each time I try to photograph one as it flies toward me it will come almost close enough for a decent photo and then wheel away at an astonishing speed only to turn and repeat the process. It is almost as if it is a game for the kite.
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