After a fun New Years Eve (and before the conception of this project), I managed to stumble up Mt Coot-tha to take in the first sunrise of the year... along with about a hundred other people. The sunrise was nice, but nothing special, and that basically summed up my day. Actually, apart from driving around at dawn and a brief 20 minute walk afterwards, I basically slept the whole day. My first bird for the year was: Australian Magpie! I know, total letdown right? BUT. Even though they are common as, and not particularly pretty, and often villified for their nasty habit of swooping and pecking people in nesting season, I actually really love the humble Aussie Magpie. They have one of the most beautiful, iconic songs in the Australian Bush. Some of my happiest memories as a child are waking up at my grandparents' house in Ballandean (which I'll visit this year as part of the challenge - looking for Chestnut-rumped Heathwrens) and hearing the caroling, warbling song of the magpie ringing out at dawn. So even though they aren't terribly exciting, and I could see them every day of the year if I wanted, there was actually something almost poetic about this being my first bird for the year - a true symbol of the bush, right in our own backyard.
Total birds to date: 24
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