Hermes is home - and it's wonderful to hear M talking to him over the fence and occasionally singing to him as well - just as she sings to Pearl - although she sings them different songs.
It's as good as the birdsong on the property - of which there is much. I did an early shift at work yesterday - in at 7 out by 3.30 - so I arrived him to Latimers in bright light. I tossed up whether or not to jump on the mower and do some laps of the yard or the Hermes top paddock but decided that if Hermes was to coming back then he would need some grass to munch on.
So I hopped on the camera instead to take some shots of the nesting birds. There are three nests with hatchlings - the swallows, wagtails and another lot of black and white birds which I am at a loss to identify. They are all amazing especially the willie wagtails who do everything they can to draw your attention away from their nest. I'm not entirely sure they don't have a second, "dummy" one to fool other people and birds.
There were some amazing golden parrots sitting on L's fence - the real reason I pulled the camera out - but they were gone by the time I came back out.
A balloon passed very close overhead at Latimers this morning. We've had a few now and because of that I should recognize the sound they make when they're burning gas. It's like a loud whooshing noise but not quite. We raced out to see it ... but not so quickly that we didn't remember that if we could see them they could see us - and since one of us was just out of the shower it was politic to throw something on. Otherwise they might want to add a visit to Latimers for every flyover.
