Corellas

This morning as I drove into work I went past a massive group of corellas. I don't remember seeing them before in Canberra, so seeing such a large flock was a lovely surprise (well lovely for me, the church whose conifers they were destroying might think differently.)

Corellas look a bit like a small cockatoo minus the yellow crest and they are equally as willful and mischievous.  This morning's flock were busily destroying a stand of conifers to get at the seeds, but in doing so were so cute.  They were hanging from trees, squabbling with each other, performing aerial gymnastics.  There was one really sweet one with a massive branch, running along the footpath, shooing all the other birds out of its way.  It honestly looked like it was running late for an appointment.

I love how birds, particularly parrots with their stumpy little legs, look when they run.  Waddling side to side, almost hoping, they look so clumsy, I always think to myself, you have wings, fly!  What a fun way to start the morning.

A new hope

A new year. New possibilities, new hopes, new wishes. The first of the year is when I usually find myself thinking of the year ahead and hoping for all that it might bring.

Newness was all around me today it seemed, even down to the luck of seeing a rosella feeding its baby. The parent had been chirruping at me to fill up the bird feeder - although from the lipstick stains on its beak it had obviously been helping itself to my parent's boysenberries! And I quickly realised why when my attention was drawn to it feeding a young one. Big enough to fly but still cloaked in the green feathers of a baby rosella, the sight of it really reinforced the feeling of this day in particular as being another beginning. It is such a privilege to see nature in its glory like that.

A new life, a fresh start, the future reaching out ahead. The perfect start to a new year.

Just wait one cherry pickin minute

I've written before about how much I love birds, and how my parents garden is an absolute haven for them.

A large part of the backyard is an informal orchard. In the orchard are two cherry trees. The original one was planted by my parents. It is grafted with a couple of cherry varieties and is carefully protected under a large bird net to make sure we get to eat them. The other is a self-sown child of the original tree. Now very large it also gets covered in cherries, but they are tart and not nearly as juicy, so it is left uncovered for the birds to feast on.

As it has grown, it has developed one, almost horizontal branch with very few leaves. This makes it the ideal bird perch. Today I watched a rosella systematically picking a cherry, climbing the tree to the perch branch where it would then sit to enjoy its treat. When finished, it would toddle off to a cluster of cherries and repeat the process. It was so cute.

King Parrot

I think we are super lucky in Australia with our beautiful birds. This morning as I walked the 40m from my car to the office I saw crimson rosellas, galas, a cockatoo, a couple of magpies and brighter than all the rest, a pair of King Parrots flying around.

King parrots just seem over the top with their red and green feathers. Really, how outrageous do they look? I love watching them and to see such beautiful wildlife in the middle of the city is a real joy.

A day for the birds

Well it is August and winter has finally arrived, with cold wind straight off the snow, icy showers and freezing nights - just don't tell the birds.

Everywhere I see birds preparing for spring. There are the magpies and currawongs carrying ridiculously long twigs to weave into their nests, the fairy wrens are bright blue in their female wooing best and the rosellas are seeking out tree hollows.

Next to our office is a big old abandoned building. It is prime real estate so no doubt it will soon become a flash modern office building, but for now, the rosellas seem to have taken it over. Most mornings as I walk past you can hear them twittering away, but this morning, one particularly bold little guy was sitting on the hand rail just next to the footpath. He was just lovely, chatting away to his friend higher up the wall investigating entry points.

I think it is such a privilege to have nature so close on a daily basis, I do love to watch the birds, so this little guy made my day.