Wildlife in a Suburban Garden

Internet access is becoming difficult, hence my lack of daily updates. Yesterday for example, I spent an hour "blogging" only then to fail to send because of the connection problems, and to make matters worse, I lost the lot!
What I was hoping to post was the story of Eagles and Kites. I can't imagine a day when I could have photographed 4 species of Kite and 2 Eagle species, but that was yesterdays feast! We went to a place called the Ross River Dam, in a way a bit disappointing, apart from the birds of prey, it didn't live up to expectations and wasn't quite as nice as other places that we have been to. However the birds of prey, well, they are just unbelievably common. I would say without exaggeration, that Birds of Prey are more plentiful and easier seen than Sea Gulls! Black Kites are particularly plentiful, but Brahminy Kites, a beautiful species, can be seen regularly as well. Yesterday we drove up a dusty farm road past Mango plantations, and as we approached an area where the grass had recently been mown, there were at least a dozen birds of prey either on the grass or circling above. We photographed Black Kites, Whistling Kites and Square Tailed Kites, either circling above or settled on the ground. There was also this interesting bird which I am guessing was a Little Eagle. THe light proved to be difficult but I did the best I could to get shots. Then, by the reservoir and the Dam wall, I caught sight of a White Bellied Sea Eagle………. yes, can you imagine that? After seeing two in flight, I found one resting at the top of a tree and it allowed me to get really close as I took photos. It peered down at me with the usual disdain that birds like this appear to have. A really impressive and spectacular bird…….. perhaps the bird of a lifetime, or was that the Cassowary? A drive up the road at the side of the dam wall gave us really good views of a pair of Australian Bustard, obviously a "lifer" for me and my first ever Bustard species.
In the morning, in the park where the beach reaches up to the grass, I watched the breeding pair of Zebra Finches that we had seen last week. Today though, I got a couple of great photographs. I have kept Zebras in captivity at home for years and it was a thrill to see them in the wild where they should be, even though they are probably the most commonly kept bird in captivity. It was interesting to see that they were hard to approach and flew up to safety when they were aware of me.
This morning (Saturday), we awoke to our first dull morning since we arrived. In fact the sun has been out every minute of every day so far. but today, it's different, overcast and cool but still beautiful. The birds are acting differently and an Australian Ibis was perched in a tree in the garden and I watched him preening as I ate breakfast. Then suddenly we had a great little bird just feet from the balcony, a female Leaden Flycatcher. The Rainbows came in to the Mimosa again and gave me a spectacular show for the 4th morning in a row.