Well had a really good day yesterday when my good friend, Alan, and I went out about 40 miles into the outback to cut and collect a load of firewood.
A nice calm day, temperature around 19 Celsius, in places the countryside has gone from dry, dead and dusty looking to having a bit of fresh greenery.
About 2 and half hours to cut and load the firewood, with a 20 minute break for Smoko ( a cup of coffee and a smoke.)
While we just sitting, chatting and drinking our coffees we noticed, about 150-200 yards away there was a kind of intermittent dust cloud rising and falling on a kind of regular basis.
So we got out the binoculars and had a look, there was a male Emu, (aka Bush Chook in Aussie parlance) busily building his nest for the coming breeding season.
Unusual given the fact that he was building it so far away from where they normally build them, i.e. on the sandy edges of creeks and where they can get the shade from the trees.
As the 'old Timer' Bushmen out here always say, " When the Bush Chook builds his nest well away from any creek you can be certain that there'll be some heavy rains coming during the nesting season."
So it looks like the Bush Chooks make better predictions that those egg-head Boffins in the Meteorology Departments and we are in for a definite La Nina weather condition this Spring and possibly Summer as well.
I hope you're right, but I suspect that not too many non-aussies will know what La Nina means.
La Nina = the Girl Child in Spanish, means a great probability for good rains for the inlands of the country, not so hot a Summer, La Nina is the opposite of El Nino ( the Boy Child in Spanish) which usually means dry to drought conditions and very hot summers.
We have become familiar with the term here in the States, over the last several years.
@AmyTheBruce I did not know that.
@Cyklone I can't fault you for thinking that we might not know. We ARE notoriously self-centered and blithely unaware of many things going on in the rest of the world. It's embarrassing, really.
But weather patterns affect us too, and like any good narcissist we do pay attention to things that affect us.
Always pay attention to the wildlife.
Yep, unlike 'city folks, out here we are taught from childhood to 'read' the signs, etc, that nature shows.
For example, Busy ants around their nests means rain is probably coming soo, snails climbing high up walls and fence then sheltering in their shells usually means the rains are going to heavy or even flooding.
If you're lost in the bush, watch the flocks of birds in the mornings and evenings, they will lead you to water just as do the 'roos and emus. Trees, especially the Gum Trees will always grow biggest around 'soaks' in creeks, just dig down in the sand and you'll find a enough water to drink/quench your thirst.
It's a bloody pity that so many from the "Big Smoke' don't bother to learn these things because IF they did then there would better chances of their survival IF they got lost out here in the 'Back of Nowhere.'
@Triphid Yes, we live in a city, but it's a small city where wilderness is just a few minutes away. We have deer visit us regularly, & lots of other wildlife is very nearby.
nice you are in touch with nature's " signs " . Sounds like
a fine setting.
Thanks
Yep, BUT NEVER try making "Galah Stew" ( Galah, a native member of the Parrot family) unless you also have available 1 axe head and 2 lumps of rock....LOL.
Recipe for Galah Stew.
Take a large pot full of water, bring it to the boil.
Toss in 1 axe head, 2 lumps of rock, 1 Galah, plucked and gutted,
let it boil until the axe head and the rocks are soft,
Toss away the Galah and eat the axe head and the rocks....LOL.
@BBJong Actually it IS an old Aussie 'bushies' joke that we tell to the Tourists and the like.
Galahs are a member of the parrot/cockatoo family and from what I learned in my childhood you'd either have be on the very point of starvation or absolute desperation to even consider eating one them.
@BBJong Depends on your take on what a 'bird' is, i.e. IF it has legs, no feathers, breasts, etc, then in Aussie parlance it is a 'bird, sheilla, a nice bit of fluff, etc, etc, OR IF it has feathers then it IS a member of the Avian Species. LOL
A Galah is a feathered bird and about as tasteless as an old boot and the meat from it is about as tough to chew ( even if boiled for a week) as a sheet of corrugated iron.
But they do make excellent pets and can be taught to talk very well.