W is for white Christmas or white-browed, bellied, eared, throated and winged

small bird with white band above eyes, holding a bug in its beak
Although snow was seen in parts of Australia this December, the Potato Point area was warm and not unusually white. So you get white birds in honor of the season. The bird above is the white browed babbler, not to be confused with the white-browed scrub wren below!


small yellow/brown bird moving up a tree trunk

 The scrub wrens seem to be scowling most times. They definitely have a scolding approach to life. 

The white throated tree creepers became easier to photograph after Scott explained their habit is to move up one trunk and then fly to the base of the next tree and repeat the process:
brown bird crawling up tree trunk, white throat on the bird


black bird with white on wings and juvenile plumage on head

I followed something else into the scrub and found this juvenile white-winged chough (above). As adults, these birds look like chunky crows. Not adorable as youngsters, either. 

In earlier posts you got to see the white-cheeked honey eaters so can refer back to N is for New Holland if you want a more complete representation. 

On a larger scale, the white-bellied sea eagles (Dad's sea gulls according to the kids) are common at the coast. While smaller than bald eagles, they also get more white with age and can catch fish just fine.


                                        soaring white bellied sea eagle


I had hoped to get to "X" for Xmas but didn't get that far before other things took over my time.  However, I did get some shots of white parrots (corellas above and sulfur-crested cockatoos below) playing angel in outdoor settings:

all white parrot in top of tree with wings spread

sulfur-crested cockatoos, one on branch and one with wingspread

These lower two were not really into the holiday spirit but were in a battle for which low branch each got to have control over. Not really sure I understood the game but they were trading off with noise. 

We made it back to Cobargo two days before the Christmas holiday and started making trips from the storage unit to OUR house. We took a break on the 25th to have Christmas dinner at Potato Point; Kristy fed us sushi and shrimp while Pete (her partner) fed us the regular turkey, stuffing, gravy and green beans but also ham and potatoes. We did nothing but eat and drink. It was fabulous

hoilday dinner with folks in paper hats


Returned to Cobargo to water the poor dehydrated fruit trees and tomato plants and to do a major scrub on grout and clean more cupboards. 

We have about a 1/4 of the storage unit emptied. We are in Victoria until the end of January if things go according to plans. More on the current sit later. Meantime, wishing you all a happy holiday from Barrabaroo Road!

erin peeking out decorated front door




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