PSITTACIFORMES: Cacatuidae
Calyptorhynchus banksii
It was a warm sunny day and we had been enjoying a walk through Bungendore Park near Armadale, south of Perth, but shortly after spotting a party of Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos, of which this female was one, Sarah (my daughter) and I decided to abandon our leisurely stroll.
Smoke which we'd noticed in the distance a little earlier was getting closer and more extensive and the noises of the bush were now being supplemented by the sound of sirens.
Being more than half way round a loop walk of a couple of kilometres, we continued on at a much quicker pace than the dawdled first half.
We passed a fire control post being established by a sooty faced officer, and were passed in turn by four fire trucks with flashing lights, three heading in towards the smoke and one, like us, in the opposite direction.
As we got back to Sarah's car, two more units from the Armadale 1st Brigade arrived and moved quickly on towards the front.
We quietly wished them luck and headed for Wungong Dam a few kilometres down the road. The aroma of bushfire smoke is quite pleasant but a location where there is a lot of water feels a lot more reassuring.