Shall I compel thee to a summer's day?

Bit of love from the front yard - and something from the Bard.

Shall I compel thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lively and intemperate:
Rough wings do shake the darling birds of May,
And summer’s list hath all too short a slate:
Sometime too shot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is all inspection dimmed;
And every sight from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed:
But summer's eternal looks shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of thy fair list ow’st;
Nor shall Covid brag thou lose’st in his shade
When in eternal lists to time thou grow’st:
So long as thou can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, this gives birds to thee.

Tree frog barks, embarks - survives close call

Uncommon black&white-headed Common Tree Snake stares in frustration after triggering barking escape by . . .

. . . Green Tree Frog, now silent, embarked on survival.

What's a snake to do? Too far to stretch. Unwilling to drop in on prey.

Wait. Wait. The frog's climbing from safety toward snake.

Come on. Bit more. But no. Frog stops climbing. Snake stops stretching. Gives up. Frog survives close call.

Fairy Gerygones nest close to painful protector

Nothing to fear from Fairy Gerygone nest, right? Well, might pay to look just a wee bit closer at things in Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park, Townsville.

Crafty birds have nest site close to formidable nesters, native paper wasps. These potent guardians are painfully free with sharp lessons - mostly facial - for the unwary. Don't mess with them!

Nest aside: birds' nest atypical, having entry at bottom rather than side. Very careful inspection will be made after young quit nest.

Dingo happily free of virus fears

Found social-distancing in Town Common Cons. Pk today, male Dingo considers which way to run after being surprised while resting in shortish grass with two others, perhaps siblings, nearby. Good current news for the species, not only is Covid-19 almost certainly no threat, even Parvovirus - feared killer of young domestic dogs - has not been known to infect wild Dingos.

Little Kingfisher dives into spirit of isolation

Isolated myself at little wetlands next door this morning and was rewarded with Little Kingfisher diving into the spirit of things.

Pipit, Sunbird making most of morning

Not a specially early bird, and not a worm but Pipit's pleased with this part of morning's work in Town Common, Townsville.

Also looking content with the morning, male Olive-backed Sunbird, close to my front door.

Sunny times for White-bellied Sea-Eagles

Life's sunny for White-bellied Sea-Eagles in Town Common Cons. Pk, Townsville, these days. Pair with nest at north end sitting pretty at west end of territory near Bald Rock this morning.

Bit of a pre-flight ruffling by female, markedly larger of the two birds. Then up and off.

Male thought about flying with her then settled back to some more majestic stillness.

Anti-Covid-19 mask: 10-cent, 30-second fix

Millions round world chasing anti-Corvid-19 measures. Huge efforts going into masks. Masks for personal use outside high risk areas are of disputed value. But wearing even the most basic cover should help protect others.

So, here's a 10-cent, 30-second solution. Multicloth, cut partly down middle, loosely knotted, easily tied in place and tucked tidily about mouth and nose.

It will of course be much more effective if everybody out there keeps their distance. Which, in my part of Australia, many, specially men, are not.