Daddy
brings home the tasty bacon
Come quick! This command can mean there is a
snake in the shed or more likely that the
Curlews , especially the chicks , are doing something cute . On hearing the
latest call, I dash outside and my attention is drawn
to “Daddy” energetically dragging
and picking something which at first
glance appears to be the desiccated
body of a lizard. It is, however , the bone from
a T-bone steak , with a long piece of
grissle attached . How it
came to be on the property cannot
be explained as it is not our bone.
Daddy had even dragged it over the Berlin Wall built to keep the chicks within the relative
safety of the backyard. Over the coming days , the
T-bone is seen in various parts of the yard
and on the verandah, the grissle ever
shorter, well picked .
Curlews
in the
street are heard crying in a strange
way about 9pm and
on checking our brood in the backyard , Dad is seen standing alert , listening
to the message on the tom-toms . Suddenly, he rockets off, down the side of the house, leaps the Berlin Wall and joins three other Curlews telling a
wallaby in the street to hit the track .
Another
night ,
a little after 3am, our Curlews screech . Jumping
out of bed to investigate , fearing it might be the return of the Barking Owl, a fat possum is
seen
decamping from the pruned large mango
tree
where every piece of succulent regrowth suddenly disappears. A thong is hurled as it scampers away and disappears over the fence ; much later it and mates dance on the roof. Every mango tree in North Australia is in magnificent bloom , except ours.
The
chicks grow rapidly, one is smaller. Less
adventurous than the other, it tends to cling more to the mother , so it is declared the girl.
The larger sibling sprints around the yard on its own , which can be dangerous . One day
a Lorikeet , in a flash of colour and with a
screech, landed next to the wandering youngster. Taken by surprise, the big boy chick, took up a pose like
the boxer , Kid Curlew of Capricornia , its stubby wings outstretched like fingers, stood
tall , and glared at the intruder, offering
it a round or two for a pound or
two. Must be away as Daddy
is tapping at the den door
wanting breakfast and the rest of the family are gathered near the T-bone.
