Frog legs on the menu

We’re used to periodic outbreaks of noisy squabbling among our local White-winged Chough tribe, but this kerfuffle was more animated and louder than usual. One of the choughs had discovered a large frog, probably a Pobblebonk, and was stabbing at it with its long, curved and very sharp bill. With tail fanned out, plumage puffed up and bright red eyes bulging, the chough had got the whole group excited, but was not going to let any other bird near its prey, except for one young bird that followed it around closely, begging to get at least a leg or two.

The recent rain seems to have produced a food bonanza of earthworms, insect larvae etc for the choughs after months of slim pickings foraging among parched dry grass and leaf litter. This frog would be a substantial addition to their usual fare.

The photos here are less than ideal because every time we got at all close, the chough would pick up its meal in its bill and scuttle away out of sight behind a bush with the youngster in tow. The rest of the group, which numbered about twenty, eventually lost interest and resumed their foraging elsewhere, leaving the now-mangled remains to a very chuffed pair!