Along with everyone else, we’re staying at home to “flatten the curve” in this strange beginning of 2020. When my horizon shrank to my house and the little patch of ground on which it rests, I became a close observer of what surrounds me. My backyard became my Walden Pond.

My backyard is sheltered and private, an appealing facsimile of rambling nature. The previous owners enjoyed all kinds of plants and popped into a bare space anything they found eye-catching. They created a pleasing jumble of green.

They loved succulents, and so do I, all those weird and wonderful shapes. This one looks like a miniature alien from Little Shop of Horrors. 

​I retreat to the backyard, escaping from the daily news to savor the last colors of autumn. 

Or to watch the birds forage and the bees busy at work. 

Sometimes I’ll spot the occasional skink, but I’m never fast enough to catch a photo.
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The backyard also includes a decaying bird bath the birds never use and something that looks like the skeletal remains of an umbrella pulled inside-out by the wind. It’s for drying clothes outside— which everyone does here—but I haven’t the knack of it yet. My American addiction to a clothes dryer persists.

I have never been a gardener—I have a black thumb rather than a green one—so I never know what anything is called. Some things I recognize though, like a geranium, rosemary, and a lemon tree. And we may have an olive tree.

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) has an exhibition on the short, brilliant career of Hugh Ramsay.  Although the Gallery is closed now, along with many other of the world’s museums, I thought I’d share the work of this remarkable Australian artist.

Born in Scotland in 1877, Ramsay came to Australia on a ship with his parents. He lived in Australia his entire life, except for a short stint in England and France in 1900 to 1902. Although he died at the young age of 28 from tuberculosis, his paintings represent some of the greatest works of portraiture in Australian art. The NGA website’s search function allows people to enter his name to see more of his many drawings and paintings.
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Ramsay grew up as one of nine children, and family played a large role throughout his life. His talent appeared early. He painted Kookaburra at age 14. 

In 1897, at age 21, he painted The Tent, a modern and abstract work for the time. That same year, he painted Lamplight, which is reminiscent of some of JMW Turner’s work.

​His interest in portraits started early. In 1897, he painted his sister Madge. What I found most interesting about this portrait was the Australian landscape in the background. 

​In 1901, Ramsay travelled to Paris and learned from artists like Diego Velázquez, John Singer Sargent, and James McNeill Whistler. He painted himself and his roommate, a fellow artist, many times.

My favorite painting of his from this period is The Four Seasons, inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites and Alphonse Mucha.

​For his health, Ramsay returned to Australia. There, he focused on portraits of family and the occasional landscape.

His masterpiece is probably Two Girls in White, painted in 1904. Inspired by Sargent’s painting of a group of sisters in gowns, Ramsay’s rendition is less formal. He places his sisters close to us, making viewers part of the scene.

He died in 1906, aged 28, at his family home in Melbourne. Ramsay has been called an “artist’s artist,” admired by many in his own generation and those that followed. One of his early mentors wrote after his death, “Australia, I think, does not yet realise what she has lost in him but she will in time, and I and some others I know will do what we can to make his memory live.”
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This exhibition does indeed bring Ramsay and his work alive for a modern audience.

We moved into a new neighborhood recently. On our first day there, while unpacking boxes, we heard our doorbell ring.  

The gentleman at our front door launched into a complicated tale about needing help to round up some chooks (which is Aussie slang for chickens) that had gotten loose after a fox attack. A little bemused, we followed him out the door.

As we were chook-hunting, we learned more. The chooks didn’t belong to him, but to his next-door neighbors, who were on vacation. From his yard, he had seen the hens outside the coop in their netted enclosure. A fox had managed to breach the enclosure and attack one of the hens. He’d frightened off the fox, but the chickens had scattered. He wanted our help to find and secure them, in his own garage if necessary.

We tracked two of the chooks, perched on a fence between the properties. The plan was to herd them into this gentleman’s yard. We approached as quietly as we could. The two brown hens didn’t move. We crept closer; still they didn’t stir. They just clucked softly to each other, as if waiting. Finally, my husband and daughter marched forward and plucked them from the fence. They continued to cluck, as if chiding us for taking so long. My husband and daughter returned them to their coop while I searched for the missing chook. What I found was a pile of black feathers—uh-oh.

“Over here!” our new neighbor called.

The black chook was in his yard. We surrounded her, and my husband picked her up, although she was flapping her wings and considerably more distressed than the other two.

Luckily, this story has a happy ending. After a quick trip to the vet, the black chook was fine and returned to her mates. And we were left marveling—only in Australia would we spend our first day in a new home chasing chooks.
 

As the native wildlife here contends with drought, high temperatures, and bushfires this summer, people across Canberra have united to help. In a community effort to provide water for thirsty wildlife, Water Our Wildlife Canberra has encouraged Canberrans to place and maintain tubs of water in nature reserves and neighborhoods. Started on December 22, 2019, the group now has nearly 6,000 members and more than 500 watering stations across the Australian Capital Territory.

I’ve put out three watering stations, cleaning and filling them every few days. There’s more to consider in maintaining water stations than you’d think.
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First, where to locate them? I chose locations with no natural sources of water or other water stations nearby. The locations had to be far enough out in the bush to do some good but close enough to the road to carry the water in. I had to find flat, level ground in shaded areas, away from busy walking trails. I also looked for places with lots of fresh scat to confirm animals were congregating there.

​What kind of container? I started out with larger plastic bins and soon realized it was unrealistic to carry in enough water to maintain them. 

​I replaced the bins with deep plastic bowls. I also added smaller shallow plates for insects, small reptiles, and animals that can’t access a deep bowl, such as echidnas. Branches and rocks are crucial to a successful water station. Branches around the containers allow smaller animals to climb to the water. Branches inside let bees and other insects drink without drowning.

I often find animals waiting for me.

​Adding a sprinkler hose or buckets outside in the yard helps too.

Water Our Wildlife has a public Facebook page, frequented by positive, dedicated people. I enjoy seeing the posted pictures and reading what’s happening with the wildlife in other neighborhoods. Maybe this effort has become so popular because it’s a small but tangible thing that ordinary people can do to help in the face of bushfires and drought.

Today ABC Canberra reported that all the fires in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (where I live) are now contained, which is wonderful news. It spurred me to reflect on what I’ve learned during what Australians are calling the “horror fire season.”
 
I’ve learned to regard time differently. I used to think of natural disasters as finite events. I believed they had a definite beginning and end. Even the worst of them would come and then they would be over. Recovery and rebuilding could then begin. The bushfires in Australia have shaken that certainty.
 
In New South Wales, the bushfire season started early, way back in September, and people have been living under that threat ever since. Here in the ACT, fires to the east, south, and west have threatened us since the holidays. Smoke was the biggest problem at first, as Canberra experienced the worst air quality of any city in the world. Then the fires crept closer, and planning for evacuation became a reality for many families. The fires have been "out of control" or "being controlled" or "under control." Never are they entirely out. And they won’t be—unless an enormous amount of rain falls. Enough rain to counteract the effects of a five-plus-year drought here. Authorities predict that Australia will be fighting these fires through February, probably well into March. Seven months—from the start of the fires in September through March isn’t an event—it’s a lifestyle. It’s a new normal.
 
I’ve learned that I am nothing if not pragmatic. Formulating a bushfire survival plan forces you to be. Choosing the what to bring for a to-go bag or bin is like packing for the most bizarre camping trip you could imagine. What I’ve chosen to include has changed over time. Now the contents are down to the essentials—if I can replace it, it doesn’t come.
 
I’ve learned that I will stay a whole lot longer in the face of fires than I ever thought I would. Friends from outside Australia urged us to evacuate at the first sign of danger, and it was easy at first for me to say: well, if the fires come anywhere close, we’ll just leave. But go where? There were no truly safe places, only places where the fire wasn’t at that moment. And evacuate for how long? We still had work and school and other commitments. You can leave them behind for a while but not for weeks or months at a time. Life goes on. You become numb and so do the friends and neighbors around you. I’ve learned that in future fire seasons, I will likely stay until emergency services tells our neighborhood to leave.
 
Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned is that Australians take care of each other, from organizing relief efforts to supporting the volunteer firefighters to rescuing the native wildlife. And I’ve learned that they never, ever give up. They keep going and look for signs of hope. If this is the new normal, these are the folks I want to face it with.

In my last post, I wrote about the effect of the fires on Australia’s wildlife. Since then, the scope of the disaster has continued to grow. An ecologist from the University of Sydney now estimates more than 800 million animals have been affected in New South Wales alone, and more than 1 billion animals across Australia since September.

After reading my last post, a college friend from the United States asked about the wildlife carers. Beyond monetary donations, he wondered if any practical supplies could be sent to them. Another friend asked what the firefighters needed. One thing I can do in this situation is research, so I reached out to my Australian friends that are involved in different charities, and here’s what I discovered.
 
Wildlife carers are in desperate need of vet supplies like bandages, wraps, medicines, and ointments. They also need hanging pouches to be sewn for all the orphaned marsupials. The fabric used to make the pouches should be 100 percent cotton or cotton flannel. Here are patterns for:

​Little care packages are being put together for the firefighters through the #SLABSFORHEROES effort. Needed items include:

For both the wildlife carers and firefighters, supplies can be mailed to:

Parcel Locker 1004339105
99 Mawson Place
Mawson ACT 2607
Australia
ATTN: Angel Ben
 
In another effort, The Rescue Collective, which distributes supplies to ​wildlife carers, needs the following:

For some of the more obscure items on the list, you can try online Australian vet suppliers like vetnpetdirect.com.au or vetproductsdirect.com.au. Or you could order online through a U.S. pet supplies company like www.petcarerx.com.

For The Rescue Collective, please mail supplies to:

Nicole Blums 
C/O The Rescue Collective
4/55 Tenby Street
Mount Gravatt 4122
Australia
 
Monetary donations are always welcome. For disaster recovery, try the Australian Red Cross. To help the firefighters, donate to either the New South Wales Rural Fire Service  or the Victorian bushfire relief effort. Donations to care for native animals can go to The Rescue Collective and NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue, and Education Service, Inc. (WIRES).
 
I am humbled by and thankful for the care and support shown to Australia from people all over the world. 

The images on the news and social media have been relentless: kangaroos fleeing the bush fires, badly burned koalas, cockatoos falling from the skies, and countless orphaned joeys.

In a bush fire season that started unimaginably early, the devastation has been tremendous. BBC News provides a good summary of how these fires have unfolded so far. The losses are staggering.

Scientists from the University of Sydney estimated that 480 million animals have been killed in New South Wales alone since September. These animals were killed directly by the fire or later due to loss of food and habitat. Thirty percent of koala habitat is gone. And the fires are likely to keep burning for months more.

Many people know about koalas and kangaroos, but countless other species are suffering, including lesser-known animals like the dunnart, long-nosed potoroo, and the antechinus.

Even before these fires, Australia’s track record for preserving animal species was grim. Australian Geographic’s comprehensive study found that 100 species of animals and plants have become extinct in Australia since European settlers arrived in 1788, the worst record on any continent over the same time period.

Wrapping my mind around all this loss can be depressing, immobilizing. But I am inspired by the Australians around me. They aren’t giving up on their wildlife. What they do best as individuals is band together for the sake of the greater good and the community. And, like the volunteer firefighters here, they never ever stop.

Many, many efforts to help animals have been launched across the country. Below are just a few in my local area that I’ve been aware of or involved in.

Most inspiring and rewarding to me has been Water Our Wildlife Canberra, a local effort encouraging people to just start putting out water for the wildlife around us—whether it’s a small backyard basin of water for the birds and bees or a wading pool for kangaroos in the neighborhood nature reserve—every little bit makes a difference. Interest and participation are both growing by leaps and bounds daily. There is even talk of turning it into a national program.

A group called Sydney Dingo Rescue was caring for 40 dingoes when it was forced to evacuate to a temporary location north of Canberra two weeks ago. They were running low on supplies, so local charities (including the ACT Pet Crisis Fund, which I work with) have pitched in to provide newspapers for bedding, materials for temporary enclosures, squeaky dog toys, dog food, and chews.
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The Animal Rescue Craft Guild has put the call out for sewers, knitters, and crocheters to make wraps, nests, joey pouches. and blankets for injured bats, birds, orphaned marsupials, and other wildlife. 

The Rescue Collective collects supplies for animal carers, and people have donated everything from formula for marsupial babies to animal first aid materials to jerrycans of water and plastic basins.

​If you’re wondering how you can help Australia, here are some opportunities to make a difference. 

Recently on a morning bush walk with Milo, I noticed a magpie at the edge of our neighborhood. Nothing unusual about that, until I realized he was following us. On foot. When we walked, he scurried along behind us. When we stopped to look, he stopped too, affecting a casual demeanor. As soon as my back was turned, he followed us again.

I was concerned at first he would swoop us, so I kept an eye on him. He continued to follow us. 

Then I thought that maybe he was injured and couldn’t fly, but he was quick to swoop another magpie who entered his territory. And then he was back to following us.

Even Milo after a while was puzzled by this bird’s persistence.

He followed us for around 800 feet, which is nearly three football fields in length.

Why? Was he escorting us politely from his territory? Looking for food from me? Was he just curious?

Magpie behavior is often a mystery to me. Magpies are among the most intelligent birds, and they often engage with humans. They recognize faces over time, and there are accounts of them gardening, attempting to type at a keyboard, and introducing their offspring to their favorite humans. They have twice been observed in behavior that looks like a trial by jury. 

​This was not the first time I have been puzzled by a magpie. Around six months ago, when I was hiking at Red Hill, a magpie marched right up to me, a few inches from my toes.  

Clearly, he needed something. Turns out what he needed was an audience. He treated me to a long, glorious song. 

Australian magpies are endlessly fascinating, mysterious birds, and I am glad to have them as my neighbors.

Every year in the spring, Australians celebrate National Bird Week by taking part in a huge citizen science project. For one week in October, Australians count the birds they see in their backyards, parks, and open spaces across the country.
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I participated this year in the sixth annual Aussie Backyard Bird Count, submitting checklists via a phone app of the birds I saw in 20-minute increments from stationary locations.  

I was not alone: More than 88,000 people participated, with the numbers of schools that took part growing to more than 1,000 this year.
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The results are in, and a total of 3,381 768 birds were counted. The graphic below summarizes the results and lists the birds most commonly seen in Australia 

The rainbow lorikeet took the top spot for the second year in a row, which I found troubling for several reasons, but that bird is nothing if not tenacious and adaptable.

The data is important because it’s a snapshot of yearly trends affecting the environment. Birds give an early indication when something’s wrong—think of canaries in a coal mine.

This year, a new bird reached the top ten most commonly seen species: the white ibis. The white ibis is a dry country bird, and thousands more were spotted in wetter urban areas near the coast. The data indicates that the continued drought continues to affect birds like the ibis, and they are adapting by moving to areas they aren’t normally found.
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I’m glad I did my small part in this massive citizen science project that contributes more to what we know about Australia’s birds.

On morning walks, I often wonder what the world looks like to our dog Milo. Many experts on canines, including Alexandra Horowitz, recommend taking a walk in your dog’s footsteps and imagining what he sees, smells, and experiences. I call these stop-and-sniff walks, and I’ve started doing them whenever I have enough time in the morning to let Milo set the pace.

I have some ground rules: no more than one hour spent outside, and I follow Milo’s lead—within reason. That means no unsafe terrain where snakes might lurk (rock piles, tall grass) and no trespassing on someone’s private property. Here’s what I’ve learned from our stop-and-sniff walks.

We amble, we circle, we meander. We are almost never on a path, or at least, not a path that I recognize. I believe these twisty, turning trails follow the rabbits and kangaroos.

We never wander all that far. Most of the time, we’re no more than two-tenths of a mile from home. Who knew that Milo, like Thoreau, believes in the value of discovering all the possibilities of a single patch of ground rather than exploring the entire world?

That patch contains multitudes. When I looked at the ground rather than up at the sky, I saw all kinds of fascinating things. ​

Rather than approaching kangaroos gradually from a distance, we happen on them unexpectedly, in the cool shadows of trees. 

​On these walks, I learned to look down and appreciate what I saw. I learned to use my ears and my nose, not just my eyes. I learned to cultivate patience. After all, there’s always time to chew a stick.

I knew how valuable these stop-and-sniff walks would be for Milo, but what I didn’t know was how good they would be for me too.