Late in the season, the established Little Darwin resident Curlew couple have produced another chick , resulting in deep concern , late night snacks and disturbed sleep. It became evident that something was afoot ; eventually a Curlew was discovered sitting on an egg in the nextdoor neighbour's yard . One day , through the wire fence , a tiny chick was spotted next to its mother .
The parents took turns to fly in for a feed from the Little Darwin canteen. Eventually they came home with the latest hatchling , which ran about the yard at night , following its parent who made a continuous, soft , clucking sound . One parent tapped at the backdoor at 10pm for a feed . In the distance , a dreaded Barking Owl , which devours young birds , could be heard hooting . Several shrieks during the night and other odd sounds caused this blogger to leap up out of bed with a torch to check on the safety of the ball of fluff. The following photo shows the head of the chick, looking like an Easter egg, in the protective wing of its mother .
