Bush Stone-Curlews observing me, as I observe them today on my lunchtime walk around campus.

A couple of birds on the driveway as I wandered back from the letterbox at lunchtime today.

I spied the Tawny Frogmouth first, and then an Eastern Yellow Robin landed on a branch close by and posed for a little while.

The campus birds weren't doing anything interesting on my walk to the office this morning, so I swung past the spot where the frogs hang out, and was not disappointed.

New bird for me yesterday, a Pale-vented Bush-Hen.

Michael Moorcombe's Australian Birds says of this species: "Noisy; secretive inhabitant of dense margins of freshwater wetland, rainforest and regrowth, dense tall crops, mangrove edges. Tends to emerge from cover early and late or when heavily overcast."

Which probably explains why I haven't seen one before.

Helmeted honeyeaters, one of Australia’s most endangered birds, received a population boost with 26 new birds released from Healesville Sanctuary into Cardinia Creek, Victoria. These beautiful yellow-tufted birds, part of a 35-year rescue program, were carefully bred. With only 280 left in the wild, every bird counts in saving Victoria’s bird emblem from extinction.

@goodnews

#GoodNews #Conservation #EndangeredSpecies #AustralianWildlife #SaveOurBirds
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/09/helmeted-honeyeater-release-healesville-sanctuary-cardinia-south-east-victoria-breed-wild-population

This morning's campus wildlife is once again the tiny Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog in its favourite leaf nest, and an Australasian Grebe (one of two on the lake this morning).

I just found a pretty cool looking moth on the veranda.