Emergency Feeders

The weather forecasters weren’t kidding. I awoke to a southerly gale and driving rain. Proper rain, not the usual fine mist. They said some areas would get a month’s average rain in one day. I had to empty the rain gauge late morning because at 36mm it was about to overflow, and the rain has continued. They could be right about that too.

The fat and sugar water feeders are exposed to the southerly. The poor little waxeyes were having a hard time of it. I set up the emergency feeders that I used a couple of years ago during a prolonged snow episode.  They consist of a horseshoe shaped amber coloured vase for the sugar water, with a glass bowl for fat, which rats quickly took advantage of. Today I put a half apple in the bowl and set them up on the balustrade of the veranda on the side of the house opposite to the normal feeders. The waxeyes took two hours to discover them, and they were soon fighting over them. I took a lot of photos, but it was very dark at 3.30 pm and I had to have the ISO at 6400 and the exposure compensation at the max. Then I lightened the shots in post processing.

I spent most of the morning making a huge pot of vege soup and had just transferred it to the slow cooker when the power went off. I lit the Rayburn and had a late, but hot lunch. Nice and cosy! The power was off for less than two hours. The linesmen deserve medals.