Christmas Day down-under

[Amari]

Happy Christmas everyone!
Here is a pic our son in Victoria, OZ, taken today. Two king parrots have flown in expecting food..

 

[The Poot]

Happy Christmas everyone!
Here is a pic our son in Victoria, OZ, taken today. Two king parrots have flown in expecting food..

Excellent stuff....beer and parrots

 

[Antipodes]

Parrots in Aus. They are attractive, but there goes the well pollinated apple crop this morning. I'm sure they eat some of them, but it seems most are just torn off and dropped to the ground. The game of "rip the apples off the tree". 10 or 15 in there and the apples are gone in a few minutes. I usually get one or two apples at the bottom of the tree close to the ground. The sulphur -crested cockatoos are scared of cats I think.

 

[Amari]

Parrots in Aus. They are attractive, but there goes the well pollinated apple crop this morning. I'm sure they eat some of them, but it seems most are just torn off and dropped to the ground. The game of "rip the apples off the tree".

Is them's sulphur-crested cockatoos? Bird song, as we know it here in Blighty, is rare when we visit our son. A flock of SCCs fly over N-S in the morning going 'Squawk'. In the evening they fly back in the opposite direction S-N going 'Squawk'. That's about it...

 

[Antipodes]

Is them's sulphur-crested cockatoos? Bird song, as we know it here in Blighty, is rare when we visit our son. A flock of SCCs fly over in the morning going 'Squawk'. In the evening they fly back in the opposite direction going 'Squawk'. That's about it...

Yeah, sulphur-crested....boy they can be noisy. Flocks sometimes fly over the house really fast and low to the ground, with individuals screeching and twisting in the air. An intelligent bird, I'm sure it is a deliberate action to frighten us.

Thing is, this morning, you wouldn't know they are in the tree, very cunning. Very quiet. Just the random thud of destroyed apples falling...

 

[StephenT]

We get loads of Ring Necked Parakeets that appear to eat the blossom on the plum trees next door and then demolish any plums that do make it to fruit. It’s quite cool through having a bird feeding station fully of noisy, squabbling green birds.

 

[Antipodes]

We get loads of Ring Necked Parakeets that appear to eat the blossom on the plum trees next door and then demolish any plums that do make it to fruit. It’s quite cool through having a bird feeding station fully of noisy, squabbling green birds.

The Musk Lorikeets arrived today getting into the remaining apples. The splash of red on the forehead and cheeks gives them away ... otherwise perfect camouflage. Usually a eucalyptus flower nectar feeder, with none of them in flower, they turn to the sweet flesh of the apples.
View attachment VID_20210218_191434825.mp4

 

[Amari]

The Musk Lorikeets arrived today getting into the remaining apples. The splash of red on the forehead and cheeks gives them away ... otherwise perfect camouflage. Usually a eucalyptus flower nectar feeder, with none of them in flower, they turn to the sweet flesh of the apples.
View attachment 24453

I wonder why song birds are unknown (?) down under - melody lies in the ears of the listener of course - apart from ex-pat blackbirds et al?
Here, in our garden, I have a robin which sings to me personally all day long, interrupted only when I feed him with pastry crumbs. Come spring, a blackbird in our ash tree takes over the role - again just to me....

 

[Antipodes]

I wonder why song birds are unknown (?) down under - melody lies in the ears of the listener of course - apart from ex-pat blackbirds et al?
Here, in our garden, I have a robin which sings to me personally all day long, interrupted only when I feed him with pastry crumbs. Come spring, a blackbird in our ash tree takes over the role - again just to me....

It's really just parrots. Parrots screech, but songbirds sing. Here are some samples from down under!