Birds, Y'all. Birds!

One of the first things that struck me when we moved to Australia was the incredible array of birds here. The first time I saw a sulphur crested cockatoo fly by, I seriously thought that it had escaped from a pet store or someone's birdcage. It just seemed so odd that such fantastic birds should just be, like, hanging out in your average suburban neighborhood. And their screech! Geez. They sound like little velociraptors or something. (See some of those on our porch here!) There's also a bird here--I think it's a raven--that sounds like a baby crying. It took several weeks of us living here before I didn't go check on Ava when I heard it.

One of the most beautiful birds we see here is the rainbow lorikeet. We usually only catch glimpses of them--they fly very fast and are usually pretty high up in the trees. So I've rarely gotten to see them up close. On our holiday last week, we had a large tree outside our balcony and it was often full of lorikeets. They would land on the railing and hang out there. One morning Jason's dad and the kids got to feed some.







I like this one--the way the lorikeets are all lined up, I expect them to put on top hats and do a little dance or something.


I prefer to watch and photograph rather than participate in the bird feedings. For some reason, birds in groups skeev me out a little. This probably does not surprise you. Given my issues with, like, living things. But aren't they beautiful?


So, rainbow lorikeets. A definite highlight from our week away. So much so that Nate pretended to be one and had to be called "Lorikeet" for the next day and a half.