A dolphin named Kevin likes to hang out with the locals at Lake Macquarie Yacht Club.
Barry Holmes sent us this photo after reading our story on scuba-divers having a long and unusual encounter with a dolphin under Swansea bridge.
Barry said the dolphin followed the swimmer around the yacht club's race course on Saturdays.
"Its name is Kevin," he said.
200 Tennis Balls
Ann Kellar came across a box of tennis balls with a message on a picnic table at Croudace Bay, which is popular with dog owners.
The message said: "Zephyr would like her friends in the park to have some of her tennis balls as she had 200".
It also said Zephyr died on February 13 at age 23 months after being diagnosed with a form of cancer.
Pulls at the old heartstrings, that.
Yabba Dabba Doo
Maitland Public School posted this hilarious message on social media.
"To the residents of Central Maitland who may or may not have been woken last night at 3.09am by the dulcet tones of Fred Flintstone screaming "YABBA DABBA DOO", we do apologise. Our bell setter is joining a Year 2 class this morning to rediscover the difference between "am" and "pm". This will probably not happen again. Hopefully. Sorry!"
Pick-Up Line
This from reader Gillian Fehlberg: "I was browsing the website for Freecycle Newcastle when I came across a request for 1kg or 2kg hand weights using the phrase 'happy to pick up'."
"I thought you may get a chuckle from it."
Bird Bonanza
We reported last May that Newcastle had been experiencing an influx of lorikeets.
Birdwatchers were seeing rainbow and scaly-breasted lorikeets in big numbers, along with musk lorikeets.
Birdwatcher Alan Stuart, a Hunter Bird Observers Club member, told us at the time that the birds may have been consolidating into Newcastle-Lake Macquarie because of the bushfires over summer.
Well, it seems like this bird bonanza is continuing.
A Topics spy spotted a massive flock of lorikeets at night that numbered in the "thousands" in the East End/The Hill area.
We asked Alan for his thoughts. He said the flock was "probably going to a roost site".
"They like to roost in tall, well-shaded trees, usually where there's some decent lighting," Alan said.
We often spot rainbow lorikeets zooming around our neck of the woods. They remind us of jet fighters. And they always seem like the happiest creatures on Earth. Must be all that nectar, hey.
- topics@newcastleherald.com.au
