Wednesday April 19, 2006 6:10 am Bagotville NSW 2477

A. Morning Musings

6:10 am I have not heard the kookaburra this morning. But the coffee tastes great.

Chores: none

History: continue reading and making notes for "In Search of the Dark Ages"

Birds: regular monitoring of Alison's bird baths, perhaps visit Flat Rock beach to look for some shore birds.

C. Actual

10:00 am I have completed reading "In Search of the Dark Ages". A very enjoyable book. I now have a much clearer understanding of British history from the beginning of the Roman conquest in 46 AD until the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

4:50 PM We drove into Ballina for a cappuccino at Pelican 181. I bought a new book of short stories by Virginia Woolf. The we drove to Lennox Head for fish & chips from the Bream Hole. We stopped off at Flat Rock but it was near high tide and the birding was not too good. I took a few photos of a Ringed Plover and a Darter. There were hundreds of Silver Gulls and Crested Terns. We are still having difficulty with swallows. We definitely saw either a Tree Martin or a Fairy Martin. Both have a short square tail and white underbelly, but we were not able to key on the head with any accuracy to make the final determination. Similar comments apply to the Welcome Swallow and the Barn Swallow. We returned home to see an Emerald Dove, a White-throated Treecreeper, Silvereyes, and a Willy Wagtail.

Emerald Dove

D. Reflection