A friendly pair of Kookaburras came visiting.

This pair of Kookaburras came to visit yesterday. They sat on the fence for ages while I snapped, and when one finally flew off, the other stayed for more photos.

Colourful parrots.

I notice that this blog is receiving many hits from overseas readers, so I've decided to include more of the birds that frequent our garden. These three photos are of Rainbow Lorikeets, which have become quite common in Melbourne suburban gardens in recent years, due to people realising that if they grow more native trees and shrubs in their gardens, and less exotic plants, they will attract more native birds and insects.





This one is an Eastern Rosella. Unfortunately the colour is a bit 'off', as my husband took this through a tinted window. These birds are prone to be flighty, and will fly off immediately they realise a person is coming too close to them.

Today it was the Corellas' turn.

There must have been at least 40 of these birds in our front yard today. Most of the large cockatoo species do travel in flocks, but I've not seen so many in the suburbs all at once in one garden! The galahs and lorikeets didn't stand a chance of getting some food, while these guys were here. They screeched and squabbled and made such a mess, tipping over the water dish, scattering seed all over the verandah and steps. When Ken arrived home, he looked at the mess and said it looked like World War 3 of The Birds had hit our place!






This one stayed still long enough for me to get a closeup. He's all wet because it was raining.
This one is sliding down the handrail; many of our visiting birds do this! They seem to enjoy it because they start at the top and slide down about half way before taking flight to start at the top again! Sometimes they'll claw their way to the top, slipping back a bit with each step - so cute to watch.

Pink and Grey Galahs, August.

Galahs have always been around here, but now there are so many more than before the fires. These visit us every day in the late afternoon, looking for a snack before flying off elsewhere to roost for the night. We buy 5 kg bags of wild bird seed from the local seed and grain store, and it lasts about a week!

The sound of the Laughing Jackass

If you google "laughing kookaburras" you will find lots of links to sites with information about the birds, along with soundtracks of their cackling. Here are some good ones to start with: NSW Govt. Dept. of Environment.
Punk Clown's Aust. Bird Calls

Little Corellas, May 2009.

Another species of bird not commonly seen around our yard, although they were around Eltham from time to time. But now they are frequent visitors to our front yard.

They are so trusting and unafraid. What a privilege this is.

All in a row on the clothesline.

Waiting for breakfast. April 5th.

Kookaburras in an Eltham back yard.

The next ten photos were taken on Friday 5th March. We fed them chicken pieces, which they pounced on as soon as we put it on the table.











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The following photos were taken during the first week after Black Saturday (7th February). We fed the birds chopped raw liver, heart and chicken wings.











The next three were taken through the kitchen window late in the afternoon. Hence the darkness of the photos.