New Year

Happy New Year to everyone!
I decided the best start to the year would be to post some photos of Rainbow Lorikeets. These birds are the most numerous in my yard. They are noisy and quarrelsome but also gentle and affectionate within their small family groups.
I have never had a "wink" from a bird before! It was a very windy afternoon and the leaves and branches were whipping all around and I think this gave me the photo op!

5 Minute Birdwatch

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

The weather has not been good for photographing birds over the last few days - high winds and heavy showers with only brief breaks of sunshine. I could hear birds in the grevillea tree in my backyard so went out with the camera to see what I could get between rain showers. The result - 4 different species in just 5 minutes.
Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)
Noisy Friarbird (Philemon corniculatus)
Little Friarbird (Philemon citreogularis)
Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus)

More Garden Birds

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

Rainbow Lorikeets come into my garden most days. The other day there was a very strong wind and this bird sat on a very small top branch of the grevillea tree. The bird swayed with the wind and flapped its wings - apparently to keep its balance. Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera set fast enough to take out all the movement blur - but I still got good views of the beautiful under-wing colors. It ended up looking rather like a rumpled feather duster!

Common Birds

This post is in praise of the common birds in my backyard! I hope I never loose them.
Rainbow Lorikeets have always been very common in my yard. I planted grevilleas when I first came here and that brought the Lorikeets in. Then a few months ago I suddenly realized that I wasn't hearing the Lorikeets. The very dry spell last year had taken a toll of all the shrubs in the yard and the grevilleas had stopped flowering for a while. Hence - no Lorikeets - and I missed them! Now the grevilleas have started flowering again and the lorikeets are back.
The callistemons have also been flowering and Lorikeets have also been on them. P.S. Does anyone know why there is such a range of colors on the fronts of these birds? Is it to do with the age of the birds?

Pied Butcherbirds

...Plus a few others!
I took all these photos while visiting friends this morning. Their garden is quite different from mine as all the big old trees were retained when the house was built. There are a number of Scribbly Gums with interesting looking holes in the trunk which birds use for nesting. This hole was being investigated by first a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo and then a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. Unfortunately that was yesterday - when all the best stories happen! - so no photos.Last year a pair of Pied Butcherbirds raised a couple of young ones and they are all still around the yard. The juveniles are now nearly one year old but their plumage is still very different from the the adults'. The adult is all black and white but the juvenile is a mixture of gray and brown with the white.There were Kookaburras up in the trees but when I tried to get into a better position to photograph the blue specks down the back of the bird it kept moving around on the branch to keep facing me all the time.Rainbow Lorikeets were in one of the flowering trees. Their green color was a good match for the leaves. Like many parrots they frequently rip up what they are eating.Thanks Sarah and Graham for an enjoyable morning.
For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography weekly.

Rainbow Lorikeets

These are the most common birds in my yard. They are also the noisiest - apart from the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos which simply fly overhead screaming! I don't remember a day going by when some of them were not climbing over and through my grevillea bushes and checking out all the flowers for nectar.
Duncan over at Ben Cruachan posted some great photos of the 'trouser's Rainbow Lorikeets wear! (Well worth a look!) Since the feathers on their legs are as brightly colored as the rest of their plumage its easy to miss how low down the feathers grow on their legs.
Rainbow Lorikeets don't seem to be a bit worried about you getting up close but they do keep a close eye on you!
This bird has a flower right in its mouth but still has a eye on me as well.
For more bird photographs visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Rainbow Lorikeets

Rainbow Lorikeets are very common in this area and in my backyard. I planted grevillias hoping to encourage the birds into my yard and the lorikeets are usually there. They are noisy and colourful birds and I enjoy watching them interacting with each other. Early in the morning large flocks fly overhead with their noisy cries. Late in the evening I can hear their sleepy murmurs as they settle down to roost in the pine trees next door.
I enjoy following them around with the camera but they seldom sit in a good pose for pictures. More often they are hanging upside down or walking around and under the foliage.