Through the lens with Eddie
“We’re good mates”, says Eddie when speaking of his mopoke friend.

Living in such close proximity to Munibung Hill, means you are never alone, says Eddie Bernard, who has lived in the Macquarie Hills area for over 30 years. 

“THERE’S ALWAYS something going on. We have visitors every day and our fair share at night, as well.”

“Crested Pigeons are of course common to the area and you can see a couple of them here.  They nest around locally.”   (We muse that it may well be, the pigeons that come foraging in our yard have their house at the back of Eddie’s place.)

“Then there’s our resident ducks – they’re always hanging around. Here’s their chicks in the backyard.  The funny thing about these chicks is that if they disperse they run in any direction and the parents hive off as well,” Eddie says. “Then you hear these little squeaks and they all come back together again – after an hour or so they’re all back with mum and dad. They’re effectively talking with each other, organising themselves – duck language – makes sense.”

“Now these are our mopokes, our tawny frogmouths, perching in the turpentine. I make it sound like we own them. But we love them. They love the turpentine; they seem to blend in better with it.  This is a very intelligent one, he looks like he’s talking with you. You can get close to them.   That’s only a few feet away, when I took that photo.  And only a few feet above the ground. I guess you could say we’re good mates,” said Eddie.

    … From MMM Issue #48 Feb-March 2025