Welcome back to Cape Chatter for 2024. I hope everyone in Australia had a pleasant festive season break and followers in the northern hemisphere aren’t freezing too much! The weather here in Cape has been a little different—we are yet to get any significant heat, it’s been a tad humid along with some nice rainfall to keep the environment fresh. I have been spending a lot of my time on the beach monitoring my favourite local bird—the vulnerable Hooded Plover. More on how that’s going next edition. Away from the coast, I haven’t been looking too much beyond my local habitat area—the home garden—with the occasional visit to the nearby wetlands, creeks and ponds … snake country! So here’s what’s happening.