New pigeon!

Well it's officially summer now so I guess I'll just have to put up with the summer temperatures which are becoming increasingly unpleasant once more. We're also getting our fair share of rain as well which means it's hot and sticky which is rubbish but, on the flip side, the tomatoes and cucumbers in the back yard are loving it. I'm just hoping the possums don't find them before we get the chance to enjoy some as well.

As I mentioned in my last post, a rare fruit-dove that is normally restricted to the rainforests up north was spotted in the Royal National Park. They do turn up as vagrants down here but very rarely and so I got myself down there sharpish to check things out. The bird was reported to frequent the same fruiting fig tree about 150m south of a particular picnic area and so hopefully it would be a simple case of locating said fig tree and ticking the bird.

There was indeed only one fruiting fig just south of the picnic area but it was a little way off the path up a steep slope and looking into the thick foliage in the overcast conditions proved tough. My eyes are just not what they used to be and so I was pleased when another twitcher arrived on the scene. After about 10 minutes scanning the tree he was onto the bird and the Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove #487 was onto my list. Getting a picture was unfortunately impossible at that distance in the dim light which is a shame because this was one of the prettiest birds that I've seen. It's spectacular colours were more like a parrot than a pigeon making it a most satisfying tick.