CasaBelle (Bellingen) - Final morning

As they say, 😞 all good things come to an end. So Day 4 had arrived, the day of our departure from this all too short sojourn. I was again up bright and early hoping (in vain once again) to see that male regent bowerbird but was amply rewarded in other unexpected ways 👍. In hindsight, a fitting end to our fabulous time here, and I'm not just referriing to another sumptuous dining experience for breakfast!

I begin with the drake. This photo complements his own unique characteristics with the beautiful spring flower sprays of the kitchen garden border; that he was guarding the space and grounds was not yet evident (you need to be patient a little longer)! 

Next, a range of "favourites" from this visit that I had almost come to expect to sight. Here once again captured while I was wandering before breakfast, sharing their spendour in their ways ...

Milking the nectar upside down with ease!

 A (slightly) less precarious scarlet honeyeater 

A parting glance from an eastern spinebill

A camouflaged female regent bowedbird

A bar-shouldered dove grazing early

Female regent bowerbirds sharing with a lewin's honeyeater

Breakfast for red-browed finches

A view of what they were having!

Just before we sat down for breakfast, our hosts became very animated near their kitchen door. Our curiosity piqued by the commotion, the reason for the drake guarding the grounds was revealed as mother duck decided it was time to take her newly hatched ducklings down to the pond ... here is a self-explanatory "journal" of the journey with no attempt to try and replicate or hint at what the viewer will be uttering (I will only suggest these are far cuter than human babies - and probably get in enough strife for that!!) ... as you will see, all seven made it safely and an email the next day advised they had all made it to atleast one more day on the pond 😀.

The figbird above was perched in a jacaranda on the way back up from the pond, along with the two perspectives of the laughing kookaburra, as things settled down and we all got to the serious business of breakfast.

During breakfast, a couple of red-browed finches offered a final audience showing off their prowess and dexterity among the long needles of the palm next to our breakfast porch. I was chuffed that a couple of these photos are so sharp as to show off the very fine features of their feathers ... and also their willingness to look directly at you 😉.

As you might imagine if you are following the blog, I took a final wander over to the jacaranda for a final few attempts to capture the spendour of the scarlet honeyeater plumage against nature's even more magnificant morning palette ... very pleased I managed a final few gems, with the final one showing a gleaming black eye a special treat!

 We really hope we get to return and emjoy this magnificant environment again soon ... contrasting with a different season would be interesting.