Just a little vignette that I often think about, though it happened years ago now. It was a mild winter and many of the usual migrants had stayed in Canberra, among them flocks of little White-naped Honeyeaters, mostly leaf gleaners, which came daily to the bird bath in front of my study window.
On this occasion I was gazing idly out the window, seeking some inspiration - and instead got a scene straight out of Attenborough! A Grey Butcherbird (which I'd never hitherto seen in the yard) hurtled in, seized an unfortunate honeyeater, drowned it, and flew off with it with all the surviving honeyeaters in pursuit. I never saw either species in the yard again.
So much is just sheer chance, being in the right place at the right time. And sometimes life is even more exciting than an Attenborough episode.
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