Duck-billed...ducklings

The last mallard chicks were on the canal. As these ones were mostly swimming round the café in Farmleigh, it was much easier to get a couple of decent pictures. I am amazed how big their beaks are. I wonder are they like puppies growing into their big paws.

I always love the strong, vibrant colour of spurge. This one was growing beside a viburnum with an almost intoxicating smell.

I've just finished reading Zane Grey's  The Great Trek, set in Australia. I was interested to read it as in the past we've read a whole series of detective books set in Australia, with a half-caste detective (the Bony/Boney books by Arthur Upfield). Grey's book would have been set in an earlier period, and his descriptions of the Australian wildlife were so lovely to read. I'd love to see things like koalas, lyre birds, and the duck-billed platypus, in real life.