Watch out! Snakes crossing!
On my way up the Brindabellas to photograph the royal bluebells, I came across a big, beautiful Highlands Copperhead which had clearly got distracted while crossing the road and had stopped to sun himself. I also stopped, got out of the car, and lay on the road to admire him. (I would point out at this stage that I kept a respectable distance and it was very cold and the snake was quite sluggish - I definitely didn't want to pick a fight with him). What a beautiful beast!
Further along the road I came across many Flame Robins feeding on insects along the road verge. I stopped to watch one father trying to satisfy his loudly begging chick. With his expert hunting skills, he managed to catch a nice red beetle for his baby.
Upon stuffing the beetle in the fledgling's mouth, however, it promptly dropped it on the ground. Maybe the fledgling was a little clumsy so Diligent Dad flew down to retrieve it and again placed it in the open mouth.
And again the fledgling dropped it. And again. And again. And again.
Eventually Diligent Dad had to accept that his fledgling didn't like the taste of beetle or, perhaps, that the beetle was too big. This left Diligent Dad feeling somewhat dejected, while his fledgling continued to sulk about not being fed.
