Ehren and I were sitting on the "veranda" this morning when he happened to spot a Goanna moseying it's way through the front garden. That's right, a Goanna, like the one in 'The Rescuers named Joanna'. As I had never seen one before, Ehren had to remind me to stay calm and fairly still so we didn't scare it away. We decided that I would run up to get the camera from our room and Ehren would stay and keep his eye on it, just in case it found an escape route through their front fence. Well sadly when I get back it had escaped. But it was not too far from the fence and I could easily get a shot of it. Then, as Ehren was pointing it out to me, a Kookaburra (a bird I will describe in detail below) in a tree above the Goanna plummeted down intending to make the 3-4 times larger animal into a meal. The Goanna obviously got away as the Kookaburra's eyes were definitely bigger than it's stomach. What an amazing thing to see 20 feet away and from the comfort of your own front yard!
Now for those of you who do not know what a Kookaburra really is, you are in for a treat. They are my favorite bird, and possibly animal! They eat insects and worms as you would expect, but they also eat small snakes, mammals frogs, and other birds! The smaller prey they will eat whole while the larger prey will be killed by bashing it against hard surfaces such as rocks and trees. They are about 15-18 inches normally and their beaks can be up to 4 inches long. They have a very unique call that you can't truly appreciate until you hear it. I'm sure many people have heard the Australian song about the Laughing Kookaburra, but I wonder if they really know how closely its call resembles manic laughter.
Ehren and I were woken the other morning at 4:50am to the sound of these amazing birds and their ridiculous calls. Rather than being upset about the early alarm clock, I couldn't help but smile. It always seems that when one of them calls, the others can not resist joining in the raucous.
On that note I will say goodbye for today. Hope you all enjoy the Kookaburra as much as I do.
Love and appreciate the world round you as it's the only one we have...
Lindsay (and Ehren)
I love that you are blogging. It, almost, makes me feel like I'm there with you.
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