Yeah, that particular 10 year age difference is pretty drastic.

I think Yoshi is about 15 or 16, right? Similar age to Liya?

It's baaaa-aaack ...

Scarily reminiscent of the Wordmills of the Silver Eggheads by Lieber.

I agree! One of the best joys in life is just paying a bit of attention to the world around us. I like to listen and look for the black cockatoos that often fly over the city - we have red-tailed black cockatoos here as well as carnaby's black cockatoos which have white tail feathers. Tragically the population of black cockatoos has been declining due to habitat loss leading to less old-growth tree hollows to nest in and less food sources, although many of the cockatoos have adapted to eating the nuts of introduced trees like the mediterranean pine and pinus radiata pine trees that have plantations here. It's always special to hear the cockatoos flying overhead or see them landing on a nearby tree.

I've gotten good at identifying different common birds by how they're flying, even with just a quick glance while driving. Whenever my girlfriend walks to the bus stop she'll always tell me and maybe send a picture of a honeyeater or magpie-lark she's spotted while walking, and of course if she sees or hears some black cockatoos. It's amazing how many birds we can find even while living in a city - let alone what we can find when we go to local wetlands or up into the hills.

Even introduced birds like the pigeons in the most built-up parts of the city can bring some amount of joy - it's amazing how so much life not controlled by humans can still live and thrive in the places we've altered the most. I admire the adaptability of the pigeons, ravens, ibis and seagulls I see even in the most dense urban areas.

One interesting book I read recently was "Curlews on Vulture Street: Cities, Birds, People and Me" by Darryl Jones. Darryl writes about his experiences as an ecologist studying urban bird life and how birds have adapted to cities and human environments - for example, the differences in behaviour between urban and non-urban ibis populations, or how rainbow lorikeets that live in cities often choose to roost in trees near strong sources of artificial light so they can see if night-time predators are approaching! In particular, the book challenges the idea that "nature" is something that has to be "out there" - far away and untouched by humans - when in reality nature and animals and ecosystems are all around us and are worth observing and studying.