Nice little Family

This is a family of ducks who have been wandering round the property since the dam began to fill, but have not been able to get close enough to take pics.

Today they were very obliging and sat not far from the house to allow me to get one last pic of them.  There are actually 10 of them, but I missed out on a couple.

Look who is Back

Each year we have the King Parrots come to visit, and get a free feed.

These two males arrived last week, and we have been amazed at how tame they are. They are not the least bit afraid of us, and will happily sit on the backs of the chairs  and in this case the table, waiting for a feed.

They were not even perturbed by the presence of Chloe and Beau, who love birds, and think they are something to play with.  The provided us with much amusement, and I think the birds were actually teasing the dogs...and it wasn't the dogs trying to chase them away, but the reverse.   It was so funny seeing Chloe jumping on her hind legs to get a better look at them in the tree.   I think the red colour was the attraction.

It really must be Spring at last.

The Callistamons, are really beautiful at the moment, and covered in flowers.  This has bought back the "red birds"..called that because we cant find them in our bird book to discover their name.

Today had a visit from my daughter for my birthday and while walking round the garden our attention was drawn to the flurry of activity in these shrubs...on looking closer discovered all these lovely red birds drinking the nectar from the blossoms...and darting from flower to flower. They were so fast it was hard to get photos. We think the pale one was the mama bird.

It was  also hard to distinguish them among the red flowers and by the time I would focus the camera on one, it was gone....off to the next blossom.

If there were sound you would also hear the noise of all the bees vying for the nectar.  We even saw a little blue wren, and another yellow bird...so it is nice to know that some of our most colourful birds have returned from their winter ramblings to warmer climates.

To see these little birds hanging in all directions by their tiny feet it makes one wonder how they manage to stay upside down while drinking of the nectar.

The last couple of days we have noticed that these little :red beaks were back as well.  They have been flitting in and out of a tall pot plant that has a cycad growing in it . Today we had a peek, and noticed there is a nest under the fronds so are looking forward to seeing babies. Did not take a photo for fear of disturbing the nest.

There was a bit of a battle royal for supremacy of the feed tray between the red beaks and the  double bar finches this afternoon.  Not sure who won.

Blue Wren

Got away from the computer and did some gardening. This little blue wren came for some morsels after the grass was mown.

King Parrots and Galahs

These brightly coloured birds come to visit us when they are in the area. They know just the time of day when the feed goes out into the feeder. This day they were alone, but sometimes when the galahs or other birds are there at the same time a war can erupt and the most intimidating group wins.

It is so funny to watch them all sorting out their place in the scheme of things.

The Galahs bring their young in every year and we see them teaching the babies how to fend for themselves. The babies sqauwk and squak, and when the adult has had enough they pick at them to chase them away. The babies never venture far, and soon learn to pick the see from the grass.