Cold, wet and windy … typical Cape winter weather. Not the greatest time of the year for exploring nature with just the tough and hardy animals out and about. One little mammal that seems to like this time of the year is the native Swamp Rat (Rattus lutreolus). Most of the bird life is that of our permanent/resident species, but there are signs things are about to change. I am pretty sure I heard the call of the elusive Olive Whistler a few days back and a lone Laughing Kookaburra (not a species we see very often in the estate) was hounded away by some aggressive Australian Magpies and a pair of Magpie Lark—indications they are readying for breeding and not letting any intruders into their breeding territory. Masked Lapwings are becoming agitated as well! Interesting times ahead—so be wary of swooping, nesting birds

Winter has finally hit with a vengeance – cold, wet and windy – what else would one expect at Cape Paterson! It is only the hardy ones in nature that are out and about at the moment (including the odd snake) but things will ramp up soon. There are indications of nest building by some of the resident birds and in a few more weeks we will see more activity! In this Cape Chatter (No. 115), we take a look at another of the major landscape water features of The Cape, the west-east ‘chain of ponds’, which was constructed in 2022. We will see how they are progressing and what fauna species are coming and going.