Ending February in the garden

Nature seldom fails to surprise in our own garden. Largely unmanicured and untrimmed as much as it might be, I am fond of telling my mum "the day I see a manicured forest is the day I will rake the leaves and trim the trees" ... of course Deb takes much more care of the garden than I as it is her domain and place where she finds peace and solitude and restfulness.

I now benefit from what all that flora attracts in terms of fauna, especially the feathered kinds. So to round out February here are some snaps that can be attributed to the delights offered by the flowers in the often maligned umbrella trees at this time of year, the nectar offered up against the background of our avocados trees. Featuring this time a couple of the more noisy and crazy behaved bird types!

But I begin with one at the other end of the spectrum - a first sighting (very well camouflaged) at home of an emerald dove ... so well disguised & quiet, at times you seem not to notice it until almost on top of it pecking away on the ground and then it has taken flight - look forward to some clearer shots when I am more alert ... a very good example of needing to look with your ears and listen with your eyes 😅. These photos are also worth a reminder to click on them to see a larger version if you wish.

A camouflaged emerald dove

So to the first featured loud and crazy end of the spectrum ... the ever delightful and oh so colourful rainbow lorikeets. Because these trees have had free rein for so long the flowers are now very high up and until you get a good photo, just appear to be red or pink clusters of berries. Even once they have dried and fallen, they merely appear to be "berries". So it was fascinating to notice with a good camera the berries are actually flowers (perhaps flowerettes?) and so the attraction of the nectar quickly becomes "obvious". Of course, their agility it getting around the branches and offering you the odd glare provide much joy in capturing 😊. Feel very free to imagine your own descriptors for the behaviors and characteristics captured ...

Greedy

Needy

Cranky

Curious

Acrobatic

And then we have the "intruder" responding to the ruckus and shenanigans of the rainbow lorikeets dropping to see what all the fuss is about. After some ferocious glares, perhaps being very clear about marking territory, it's down to business for a juvenile blue-faced honeyeater (juvenile because the face is not yet blue). The first two photos especially show off the glistening droplets of nectar that are the real attraction. Feast while you can and the bounty is available ... just think, once upon a time, not so long ago we humans were much better at, and content with, seasonal feasts - damn the supermarkets (or is that super marketers???).

Sizing up the space

Aggressive protection

Supping on the nectar (honeyeater indeed!)

Now, to finish and not quite in our garden, I turn to my "other garden" outside my work window. I share two shots to end February of swamp wallaby joeys one morning, being playful like kids are - what a world I am privileged to observe 😜

Cuddling, or waltzing?

Oh what a feeling ... the agility of youth!

Bloody good year so far in 2017!