Our great southern migration

  The bottlebrush bloomed and the birds arrived en masse. Friday morning Scott came to get me - I needed to see what was going on in the "formal garden". We have two of these trees in the garden and the nectar-eating birds were busy. The initial pair of rainbow lorikeets permitted some birds to join them but many got relegated to other trees. The satin bowerbird seemed to be okay picking cherry blossoms to either eat or to decorate his bower: The yellow-faced  (below) and Lewin's honeyeaters were not too cowed and stayed sipping nectar The silvereyes occasionally popped over but mostly stayed in the pencil willow  This cutie popped up in the bay tree We saw an old friend! This was the first time we sighted a scarlet honeyeater on our farm.  The welcome swallows were buzzing around  as were the red wattlebirds We heard the gang-gangs fly past- no pics.  Our usual garden tenants, the crimson rosellas, were not to be seen that morning. They were back this morn...

We (mostly Scott) have been digging up grass and moving dirt around. This has disturbed the insects and worms,  making the birds very happy. This jacky-winter was engrossed with what was happening below. Ditto with this superb fairy wren: The wrens (particularly this little male) have been getting very bold. In most area we have been, the female fairy wrens are the bold ones but not in this group. The male will hop on the picnic table while we are sitting there and focuses on where Scott sits in case he drops a potato chip again. He does often get to be the subject of my camera practice. due to his posing nearby.  This shot isn't as clear but I do think the blur captures more of their normal behavior! This thornbill obviously found something yummy This nankeen kestrel was likely looking for something a bit bigger when flying over the paddock We also have a new resident- the olive backed oriole is hopefully setting up residence near the creek. Definitely been voicing their thou...

Before we left Minnesota, I pulled out articles from Scott’s old Australian Geographics. Mostly I looked for wildlife and national park articles. One article was on lorikeets. I enjoyed the information and descriptors so wanted to share.  Most of the lorikeet information below is from Australian Geographic, Rainbows in Flight, July-Sept 2001. Photos are ours.  “Propelled by a high-energy intake of pollen and nectar, their wild shrieks ricocheting from tree to tree…” This line makes me happier about actually capturing honeyeaters and their like on camera as they are also on sugar highs!  The article also mentions their constant squabbling. “Parrots with an attitude”.  I also learned that the color of their collars identify the subspecies. Red collars are the northern tribe. In our area, we see green or yellow-green.  Lorikeets are very acrobatic due to their short, strong legs, extremely flexible hips and unusual feet. Perching birds have 3 forward pointing toes ...

  Rainbow lorikeets do not have the best song but definitely look colorful on the wing! These are not birds that Scott bothers to photograph but am still amazed at their plumage. Just amazing to see parrots flying around like robins (not rose robins but American robins). These can be found all over and are attracted to bird feeders set up with nectar. Apparently they have specialized tongues to help them gather pollen and nectar.  They do tend to be found in small flocks and can make quite a racket ["continuous screeching" according to our bird book]. This one was quiet and not willing to shift for my photo shoot!