I love September in Sydney as the days get longer and warmer. I also love the signs that summer is coming soon that occur in September – November:
- The flowering Jacarandas ( I also love it when their leaves turn yellow before falling, which happened last month),
- The shedding of the bark of the native trees – in particular the Angophora Costata, whose trunk goes from pale pink/grey to vibrant orange/red (especially in the afternoon sun),
- The new leaves (red) on the Eucalyptus, and
- The arrival of the Channel-billed cuckoos from Indonesia and New Guinea.
These are crazy birds!
They are big and unusual in appearance – white and grey with an almost-toucan-shaped bill and red eyes! But most of all, they have the loudest and most raucous call of any bird – even ‘worse’ than the screeching white cockatoos.
I actually love their call, and they make me laugh. So as I was doing this quick sketch at Lane Cove National Park on the weekend, it made me happy to hear them for the first time this summer.
Here is a good YouTube video with their call.
In my old home there was a large tree next to me and one year a few of the CBCs nested there. That is when I really took notice of them and now I’m super aware of their call. 
I rarely actually see them so I have only drawn them once back in 2022 and that was from a photo.”Maniacal” is a good description of them.
I don’t know how much I will hear them at my new place but I hope that I will see them flying past.
8 Comments
Love this post Liz. You see and record the world around you with so much careful observation and appreciation. It’s inspirational. And this post fits beautifully with my experiences today out at Collaroy for the very first Meet Up of the Northern Beaches Nature Journaling Group. Another classmate, Monica from the SKN Travel Sketching course was there too, and we were thrilled to meet each other in real life!
Ah! very cool that you got to meet Monica and yes good timing indeed. I would like to do more natural journally one day! I tend to simply add a supporting element to an everyday sketch and that’s a clue to me that I’m interested in a certain tree. I rarely do study drawings of them though.
Are these like the cuckoos in England that lay their eggs in another birds nest and their babies are hatched by another bird?
Love the sketch. We have very subtle seasons in Southern California so you really have a challenge to see it happen. We are going into winter, you are going into summer? Love it!
Yes Pamela they do that like other cuckoos. And yes very subtle season changes here too!
Liz, I love the eucalyptus, simple lines and gentle colours which describe it perfectly.
Thanks Judy!
I do so love the Lane cove sketches! Tge peacefulness radiates! Those birds sound so very interesting! These sketches are beautiful.
THanks Jamie! I love doing my Lane Cove Park sketches and sad that I’m now living further away from the park
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