Mt GIBRALTAR NEAR BOWRAL, NSW

Mount Gibraltar, known locally as the Gib, was a popular destination for Mother's Day drives and picnics...meanwhile, we headed out for a walk around the rim. It was a bit treacherous underfoot, made even more so by the recent heavy rains, but we were rewarded by the lookout views across Bowral and Mittagong.

The other big reward was a clutch of kookaburras chorusing to their hearts' content: you can hear them here:

But wait, there's more on the kookaburra theme.

Having walked a good 4km, we settled in for lunch at the picnic table at Bowral lookout. There we were happily tucking into ham sandwiches...until WOOMPH! A young kookaburra swooped from behind like a fighter jet and snatched what was left of my sanga right out of my hand, leaving a red mark on my finger. No real harm done, except the loss of the last bit of that sandwich, and no chance of getting an action shot of that little chap coming from behind. A good reminder though of the power of that beak, and the precision of the kookaburra as a hunter. Despite the mustard on his beak, our kookaburra friend had the last laugh.

​Magpies were also in fine fettle at the Gib, as was this fan-tailed cuckoo (below). We didn't manage a good shot of the tail, but he was briefly resplendent at the tippy tippy top of this dead tree.

We went back to Cecil Hoskins Reserve to see if the grey goshawk was still around (are we becoming serious twitchers, or what?), but there was no sign of him, or much else really - except these little grey shrike-thrushes who were singing madly, and flitting about among the trees.

But the most resplendent of all was, as usual, a crimson rosella having afternoon tea by the side of the road. See all the best pics of the day here.