Backyard Zoology · 11 June 2025
2025-06-11T17:58:12+10:00
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My emotional support tawnies are back doing what they do best: scaring the crap out of me by disappearing during gale force winds. I mean, it's a perfectly reasonable reaction to assume they're both dead after one day not spotting them, right? RIGHT?!

The first thing I do each morning is open the blinds, look up into their preferred tree - which incidentally has changed over the years for some unknown reason - clock both birds and then relay the good news to Matt: "Tawnies are there" and he'll usually come up behind me, check for himself and then relay the good news to ME, "Tawnies are there." We've been married 18 years now, maybe this sort of scintillating banter is the secret to our success.

But then yesterday, no tawnies, and hence, no morning good news to convey. And today, after another ridiculously windy night, again no tawnies. We had practically nothing to say to each other. What do couples even talk about when there's no birds to report on?

Thankfully the silence was broken around 10ish with a "Bunny, you're going to want to see this" followed by my favourite sentence in the world "bring your camera." Music to my ears. 

I did head out with my macro lens and flash assuming he was going to offer me something of the fungi variety but as I stepped onto the deck, he pointed at something hidden away in the macadamia tree, sitting at eye height no less and said, "Tawnies are there". 

(Zoom into the first photo and see if you can spot me reflected in the tawny's eye!!!)

Tawny Frogmouth
Northern Illawarra