The Whipbirds, and others.

It's been a joy listening to and watching our resident whipbirds this spring. Early on they were not easy to see but the loud 'whipcrack' call of the male followed immediately by the double whistle of the female left us in no doubt of their presence.
Robbie spotted one of the young'ns first, some weeks ago near the woodshed, following an adult with a chitter-chitter noise wanting food. He said it was just like the adult but smaller and duller in colour and markings. Next day I was lucky enough to see the same.
Over the past month or so, as we've cleaned up long grass and pruned shrubs in readiness for the fire season it's been easier to see them and they've lost much of their shyness. I saw the whole family last weekend and followed them about as they foraged and scratched under leaves and debris. There are two juveniles, not the one as we thought. They are full size now but still haven't got the distinctive black colouring and the white throat patches.
They're almost comical to watch. They move in a follow the leader pattern, hopping across the ground and suddenly doing a jump into the air, before flitting into the next shrub. With their crests, and long, broad tail accentuating their sudden jerky movements, it's quite a theatrical dance around the garden. Dad and Mum 'whip' and 'choo choo' regularly and the two young follow, sometimes foraging for themselves and other times harrassing the adults with the nagging 'chit chit chitter'. I'm wondering whether they'll all move on together soon or will Dad and Mum stay and hunt the young off.
Lately we've had gang gang cockatoos feeding in the the tree tops, their creaky door calls giving them away. The bellbirds are attacking them, but they've been about for a couple of weeks. Also there's been corellas around, which is unusual. And the other day I saw a quail, a brown quail I think it was. I could make out brown or chestnut and white streaks and black marking. A beautiful little bird whose legs moved lightning fast.