April feasting in the backyard

Blessed during autumn to have a variety of fruit available in our yard for the birds. No need for feeders here, just enjoy them feasting on what nature provides. Plenty to go around as you will see 😀.

While not quite ripe in April (mid-May through June usually) the madarine tree has a good crop this year, and as you see with this first photo, the rainbow lorikeets are not intent on waiting for them to ripen before sucking the juice and flesh from the skin - this one carefully weighing up whether to try one, or maybe wait a little longer and move on to one with a bit more colour (many already sampled)! The wide variety of colour in the plumage is evident here, right down to some flecks of red among the blue of the head.

Then across the yard to the east is a patch of lady-finger banana plants. Several bunches have ripened simultaneously, so the surplus has been a feeding ground for weeks now - a noisy restaurant but atleast during the day and thus more palatable to the ear than drunken flying foxes during the night! Grateful for small mercies.

This first rainbow lorikeet carefully watching me get into position for some photos and making sure I know that is close enough, all the tables are already booked 😉!

This next one I include because it struck me, first, how the birds were sharing (albeit noisily); secondly, it is almost like the lorikeet is trying to hide on the rgiht under a hand of bananas so the blue-faced honeyeater notices it's presence a little less.

The next two photos show the honeyeaters sharing "the table", with both glancing up to make sure I don't encroach too far - makes you feel like a waiter trying to be inconspicuous and being failing miserably 😁. The lighting serves to accentuate their camouflage capabilities as well.

I had trouble choosing from among a series that depicts the birds taking their turns waiting patiently for their next course - I imagined a patient line to get to the dessert table! In the end some photos in the set may seem a lilttle repetitive in the setting but I decided to overdo it because I think the palette the birds offer just "belongs" at this dessert table! So many wonderful colours and characteristics for you to savour - take your time 👏

See ... worth the wait to have the leftovers all to myself!

Not just bananas either ... here feasting on the flowerettes of the unmbrella tree. Clicking on the photo will enable you to enlarge it and if you do, take a minute to check out two details. First, notice the (greyish) tongue of the lorikeet is extended under the top beak reaching onto  the the flowerettes. This is the licking motion they use to access the nectar. Second, on the bottom middle of the second (green) leaf to the right of the head of the lorikeet, you can see a hovering bee waiting for it's turn to resume once the lorikeet moves on! One of those details you only have a chance of picking up when reviewing the photo - if you are lucky 😃.

Finally, a rainbow lorikeet keeping an eye on me while considering whether to let the noisy miner have a spare seat & share (which transpired). 

Sometimes you just don't need to go anywhere to notice what is right where we are!

Lakeside Bungalow Day 2

First sighting next morning was this pair of pee-wees (magpie larks) soaking up the peaceful ealry morning rays on some branches beside the pond. Other early morning pond activity saw a pair of pacific black ducks serenly moored mid-pond, a peaceful dove being true to its name on the pond isthmus and a pair of australian wood ducks surveying the pond from the safety of the sunny lawn.

(Remember, clicking on a photo will offer a larger and more detailed view of the photos).

Heading off for a wander around the grounds, the first glorious view was offered by a magpie showing off its black and white splendour perched on a dead branch in full sun - quite the setting for its contrasts.

Next, moving from full sun to shade was a spangled drongo. The photo in full sun showing the shiny dark plumage and striking red eye amid the grey branches and various green leaves. The photo in shade highlighting the distinctive forked tail and a parted beak mid-call. The ubiquitous gum tree perch and clear blue sky a feature of the environment.

Next the iconic laughing kookaburra. The ones around here tend to be skittish and so clear enough though distant in their environment - the distance makes their link to the much smaller kingfishers that much more obvious!

A rarer icon next with this crimson rosella unusually in the "open". The two trees in which it alighted offer alternate contrasts with less and more foliage appearing to highlight the spectacular rich plummage of our parrots once again.

Walking back up along the southern edge of the vineyard some more familiar birds were sighted. A grey butcherbird huddled in silkyoak foliage, superb fairy wrens flitting and chirping their way through the undergrowth and an adult blue-faced honeyeater keeping an eye on a fledgling as it bleated from a nearby branch.

Back to the bungalow and another pair of pacific black ducks were meandering around the pond and a (unusually) lone red-browed finch was cleaning up among the bushes beside the pond and bungalow. Ah, the variety served up when we notice.

Another visit to The Croft (October)

We decided to treat ourselves to another short stay at the Croft. We were there back in March (this link is the first of three posts from then). Different time of year. Still great to enjoy the location and the birds ...

This first photo is a brown honeyeater taking a shower in the rain - always fascinates me that the "drops" are picked up in the photo. The birds generally seem so unaffected 😊. So a wet arrival this time. The second photo is included to show the dark foreboding sky that hung around most of the day - here providing a stunning backdrop to a crow in the tree during a brief break to overhead allowing some sun to shine through. Nature in all her wonder!

Good to see the spangled drongo still around. 

This was a solitary appearence on this visit - not spoiled by a close encounter like our first visit. Nonetheless, that forked tail, shiny black coat and beady red eye is clear to see.

Could not resist sharing these two photos of a brown honeyeater - I marvel at how it is so delicately balanced right on the tip of the bird of paradise flower while still managing to offer a full frontal glare at the photographer. The second photo is the same bird on a lower flower and offering a nice clear full profile to appreciate their size and light "touch".

Pesky as they are, they have quite the striking palette. This common myna was about to take flight.

I decided to include quite a few photos below of some red-browed finches. Each day a small flock would descend to graze on the grass around some shrubs before moving off for fresh seed. The selection chosen below attempts to provide a sense of the "flock" down to an individual bird. Lovely creatures these, and the olive back feathers are a subtle contrast to the soft grey breastfeathers and the bright red brow and beak. Again, the grass scene offers a strong sense of how tiny these birds are and how well they blend in. Their movement & chirping most generally draw your attention first.

Another brown honeyeater, this time venturing into a bush right beside our verandah and thus offering a great view of it checking the photographer out again!

This next pair of photos feature the bird of paradise flowers again, but this time being enjoyed by the larger, more colourful (and agressive) blue-faced honeyeater. The first photo shows an acrobatic effort to reach the nectar, while the second one is a more traditional pose demonstrating, despite the larger size, the bird is still very light as it poses in profile right on the end of a flower. Amazing how the blue face is strikingly similar to the blue spike of the flower 😁.

The next two photos show-off the lush spring foliage of a liquid amber providing a wonderful refuge for a pair (and then just one) of little corellas. The pastel colours around the eyes provide such a wonderfully subtle variation to the white plummage.

This is a young spotted dove - the distinctive white spots on the black neck feathers are not yet developed. The sign is about the ground beyond the gate, clearly not the gate rail and the pine in the paddock beyond offers a nice symmetrical, contrasting background.

This very healthy turkey will be in good shape by the time Xmas has arrived (or perhaps it will not survive Thanksgiving?). We could hear it "gobbling" away regularly on the farm next door.

The final two to be shared from this visit are a peaceful dove grazing among the debris in a muddy patch in the paddock behind the property and a willy wagtail swinging in the breeze while ensuring the photographer is aware he is being watched.