Terry went on an early morning jeep safari with the other avid birders at Jabiru Safari Lodge in Australia. That left my morning open to sketch the lodge. I was seated right next to the lake as I sketched. I started hearing splashing noises behind me and was surprised to see a wild boar skinny dipping in the lake. He would dip his head under the water and let it roll off his back. He splashed around for a good ten minutes or so before he got out shook off his coat and started walking down the trail towards me. When he finally noticed me sitting there, he took off with a grunt and darted into the woods with a few nimble bounds. I’m glad he was more startled than I was because if he chose to charge, I would have been screwed. I was wide awake and thrilled. What a way to start the day!
When the jeep got back Terry and I had breakfast on the patio. Terry was excited by all the species of birds that had been spotted. The expert birders could pick out birds by their calls and knew how to spot them at great distances. Over breakfast Terry noted the birds she had seen on her Australian bird list. She had purchased a bird book in Sydney‘s Royal Botanical Gardens and already most of the birds pictures were checked off.