Watching the Evening Come In

As the sun goes down, our backyard in Shailer Park is full of life. Rainbow Lorikeets fill the trees, flying over the pool, singing noisily to each other as they settle in for the night.

They quiet down as the sun disappears and the singing of frogs emerges. They probably have been singing all along, but only when the birds stop chirping do you hear them. One of these frogs somehow made it into our house one time - that's the only reason I know what it looks like. A green tree frog.

Just before darkness sets in, hundreds of shadowy wings fill the sky. A few Flying Foxes (fruit bats) land in the tress in our back yard, waiting for their prey (I made sure I wasn't prey and came inside pretty quickly the first time I saw this - now I know they won't eat me).

Our dog likes to bark at various animals throughout the night (bless his little heart). One of these is the possum. Sometimes I see them walking across the power lines on the street and Dave says they run across our roof all the time.

I should mention one other backyard dweller that we happily say farewell to at night. His name is "Harold" and he has been attacking his reflection in every window of our house since we moved in 8 months ago. I believe he is a magpie-raven or "Pee-Wee". Once the sun goes down, his reflection disappears and I imagine he goes to sleep and stores up energy for his endless window pecking the next day. We hope that one day something will help free Harold from his misery...and ours. Kruffs (the dog) is in training.