The seasons are definitely changing . . .

Autumn has definitely arrived at Casa da Ayre.  The days are getting shorter and last week it was still pitch black dark when I was leaving for work.  It might be different now, as Daylight Savings has ended this weekend.  Ahhhh, I love the extra hour's sleep in the mornings.

The last two weeks or so we have had a Pied butcherbird carolling throughout the morning.  Now its gorgeous call seems to be heard off-and-on all day.  Even Amanda has remarked about how she loves to hear its' call.  

Last week we started to hear the Pied currawongs calling.  They didn't seem to be stopping; just calling as they were travelling through.  I used to see them en masse at my parent's place in Charlestown.  They would spend a few days resting in the nearby pocket of mature Eucalypt & Angophora spp woodland before continuing their migration.  Some years there seemed to be hundreds passing through in a constant stream of birds.  These days the migration seems much smaller.  But the weather patterns change substantially from decade to decade, and the environments the birds use will change to reflect that.  

This morning Amanda & I took the dogs for a walk along the Cycleway from Eleebana boat ramp to the Cafe strip at Warnersbay.  While we were passing the Cherry Road intersection, just before the bridge over South Creek, I saw my very first Spangled drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus).  It was flitting out from some mature Casuarina spp trees, chasing insects.  It was quite low to the ground, only 3-4 m high, and we were within 6m of the bird.  We both had quite a good look at it for three minutes or so.  I am certain it was a juvenile as its' eyes were drab brown.  The "fish shaped" tail was unmistakeable.  

The Spangled drongo fills and ecological niche quite close to a Dollarbird.  However, the Dollarbirds would have migrated northwards by now, while the Spangled drongos are just arriving to spend the winter months down here.