Joanna Holman on Nostr: Took these photos last night on my regular walk around to see if the Tawny Frogmouth ...

Took these photos last night on my regular walk around to see if the Tawny Frogmouth chicks have hatched. Came back tonight and the nest was empty. Told myself that perhaps the eggs weren’t viable and the adults had moved on. Then I made the devastating discovery of a dead tawny I believe to be them slumped over a low branch on a nearby tree. There has been birdflu detected in the neighbourhood, as birds who eat mostly insects and keep to themselves I’d hoped they’d evade it.

Reported their passing to the government agency responsible for birdflu response, notified the guy who runs the local bird watching walks and cried. This is the second year I’ve been watching that nest and they felt like friends. People talk about ecological grief in the broad sense of mourning how whole ecosystems and the global environment are being harmed. No-one prepares you for the reality that loving individual wild creatures can mean loosing them without warning

#birds #bird #tawnyfrogmouth #wildlife