For some time over summer, husband Don and I have been privileged at twilight to be serenaded by a melodious feathered songster which perches in the trees on our block adjoining our home.
There is a variety of trees on the block, and our visiting songster set us exploring our ornithological books to endeavour to identify our guests. We are now certain it is a thrush.
We already have regular guests with dozens of pigeons, occasionally doves, a rather arrogant magpie but the trush has not been a visitor in the half a century plus that we have lived here.
My late father, Rowland Archer, formerly of Ryecroft, Lyndhurst, was an ornithologist and one of his collections was birds eggs from all over the world.
After his death, my late mother bequethed them to the Melbourne Museum.
At Ryecroft, I remember when I was growing up, we were frequently visited by Grosby Morrison and Alice Chisholm, both leading Melbourne naturalists.
Dad had special cabinets lined with cotton woool to house both his Australian and overseas collections or eggs from ostrich eggs to humming birds eggs… the sublime to the ridiculous in the variations of size.
Dr Maurice Burton in his encyclopedia describes thrushes as being slender billed songbirds of small to medium size.
He writes that the plumage in most chicks is inconspicuous because it is often grey or brown, but is sometimes chestnut, blue, green, black, or pale buff. Our visitor is buff shaded.
Most thrushes eat insects but also spiders, tiny reptiles, worms, snails and other animals. Many enjoy fruit and berries in the autumn and winter.
Our songster enjoys the crumbled up bread I give to all our feathered friends twice or three times a day and none of them are adverse to leftover cooked vegetables.
In a faded and tattered copy of the Dandenong Journal printed on Wednesday evening, 24 January 1951, available at the time for the princely sum of three pence, I came upon a story of two Dandenong art students who hitch-hiked 1000 miles (1500 kilometres) for five shillings each.
The two girls, Prudence Boileau and Margaret Edwards, were on a painting expedition and holiday.
Their feat made headlines in the Wangarratta Chronicle. The girls said since they left Melbourne they had “hardly walked a yard”.
They first passed through Wangarratta then Canberra with their sights set on Sydney and fulfilled their intial plans to be home again on the Thursday night.
Their total expenses were lessened when they sold two water colour paintings for 10 shillings each and also because of the helpfulness of the people with whom they came into contact.
So successful was the trip, the two girls said they were then planning to tramp Tasmania armed with their paint cases and palettes.
I would love to hear from anyone who knows what happened to Prudence and Margaret after their artistic adventures. Let me know at journal@starnewsgroup.com.au
Red Cross Australia is calling for help during its annual tin-rattle.
Noble Park’s Vajira Ekanayake needs volunteers for a fund-raising drive between 10am and 3pm on 1 March at Police and Jacksons roads in Mulgrave. Call him on 0401 178 436 to lend a hand.
Hallam Friends of Red Cross are urging people to dig deep during their collections at Spring Square Shopping Centre in Hallam, on Tuesdays during March. Call 9774 0194 to assist the group.
