Spring is Sprung

Spring has well and truly sprung here on Bruny and we have been busy immersing ourselves into life at Dennes Point.

The Jetty Café has reopened after its winter break. Friday nights are strictly ‘fish ‘n chips’ and we headed off on evening one to join with our neighbours in supporting this local business. Lovely to stand by the fire and catch up after dinner. The café is in a beautiful building overlooking the Channel. Architect designed it was largely built by the local community and also features a commercial gallery space and adjoins the Dennes Point Memorial Hall.

I am also excited to announce that the gallery has re-opened as Pluk following the retirement of the previous owner ( and fellow quilter), Kate. Pluk is the brainchild of Chrystal, who was the first person we met at Dennes Point when Ruby did her escapee act on day one. It features lots of tempting items, some of which are already making their way north to ease lockdown blues.

“**Spotted Pardalot**e (male)” by 0ystercatcher is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, “**Striated Pardalot**e (206)” by Oz Nature Shots is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0, “**Forty-spotted Pardalote** (Pardalotus quadragintus)” by brianandlizmccauley is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Yesterday we made the 7 minute drive to the Barnes Bay CWA Hall for a workshop on the Forty Spotted Pardalote. Endemic to Tasmania the 40 Spots (as we now refer to them) are one of Australia’s rarest birds and are only found on Bruny and Maria islands. They are small, quiet and difficult to spot, unlike their relatives the Spotted and Striated Pardalote, both of whom we have in the garden. The the very noisy Striated have nests in the eaves of the house and the studio and are extremely social. The 40 Spots rely on the Eucalyptus viminalis ( white gum) which itself is under stress due to climate change so lots of issues. Citizen scientists M & J are now involved, building nesting boxes, observing and recording. We thought we had seen one earlier in the year when Marcus rescued one that had flown into the window but we now know that this was a juvenile Spotted. For the birders amongst you a couple of good articles over on the Bruny Island Environment Network page.

Home after our Pardalote session, Ruby and I headed to the beach where we watched dolphins playing off shore – well I watched, Ruby was too busy searching for starfish! We’re not in Orange anymore.