I was walking around the garden today and enjoying the winter sun when I heard a noise in the trees above and saw what I thought were Rainbow Lorikeets chirping away. I raced to get my new camera to see if I could take a half decent photo of them but when I came back they were nowhere to be seen. I had been looking up at the mulberry tree where they had been moments before and I suddenly lowered my eyes and there was one sitting on a branch right in front of me. Duh! A bit of the case of not seeing the wood for the trees. :-)
On closer inspection of the photo it isn't a Rainbow Lorikeet at all but seems to be a Scaly-Breasted Lorikeet.
My Northern Hemisphere readers might like to see the Rainbow Lorikeet which has a red breast and these are the ones who ate our Nashi Pears and featured in my post No Nashi Pears for Nanna which was a little story I wrote for my granddaughters. Aren't they beautiful birds? It is a pity they like eating our fruit.
I asked the CEO who was nearby what they were eating and he said they liked the buds on the apricot tree. What? I said I didn't think there were any buds at the moment as it was the beginning of winter and he said to look behind me at the peach tree and guess what...there are blossoms on it already. Obviously I don't take too much notice of the fruit trees. Between the birds, flying foxes and fruit fly it is a bit of a challenge to grow fruit at times.
Annabel from The Bluebirds are Nesting has been writing a great series on Crockpot cooking which reminded me that I made some Slow Cooked Focaccia Bread last year. It makes a great accompaniment to soup so do try it this winter.
Also Mimi from A Tray of Bliss mentioned in the comments section that she has made goat's milk soap so I thought some readers might be interested in how I made mine. You can read about that in this post. There are different methods used when making this soap but I was happy with the way mine worked out. Do give it a try if you have been putting off making it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't hard at all.
I look forward to hearing about your first batch of soap if you haven't made any before.
They are beautiful birds Chel. I have never heard of a scaly breasted lorikeet, very interesting, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of them before either, Sherri. They probably eat as much as the Rainbow Lorikeets though. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI love the scaly-breasted Lorikeets but I think they're even noisier than the Rainbow Lorikeets. Looking forward to your slow cooked Focaccia. I heave not yet made bread in the slowcooker but I would like to try. Hope you're having a good week!
ReplyDeleteI must make some this week again with soup, Frances. You could make your sourdough bread though :-)
DeleteBeautiful bird minus being a fruit thief. *smiles* The bread looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of beautiful birds in our neck of the woods, Chrissy. The Lorikeets in particular are very colourful.
DeleteOh my you have beautiful bird in your part of the world, however they share some unpleasant traits with some of our plainer ones up north here - they are thieves!!! ( and they poop on my car! ) Fun pictures - thank you!
ReplyDeleteWell we have possums that do that to our cars here, Kathy. LOL!
Delete"Between the birds, flying foxes and fruit fly it is a bit of a challenge to grow fruit at times."
ReplyDeleteFrom the look of things you do not seem to have any trouble growing fruit, just that all the critters will not share with you.
We do end up with a little fruit, J...mainly mulberries, tamarillos, rockmelons, citrus fruit, Jaboticabas and grapes.
DeletePerhaps you were bird brained, for just a moment. LOL. I see you are being so busy busy busy, certainly keeping those brain cells active in retirement. Sometimes i feel exhausted by all that you do.
ReplyDeleteI guess I was a bit bird brained, Lynda. Ha ha! I couldn't believe it when I saw the bird just sitting quietly in front of me.
DeleteChel,
ReplyDeleteMy son once brought home a hand reared scaly breasted lorikeet he'd found in someone's garden. We bought it a huge cage and let it out in our family room so it could get plenty of exercise. The bird terrified the younger girls by nipping them, and it was very hard to catch to return it to the cage. Every morning, it would wake us up far too early. One day, while the bird was flying around the house, someone opened the family room sliding door unaware the bird was loose. The lorikeet saw its chance and shot outside to freedom. It flew up into a tree and wouldn't return. I wonder what happened to it. Perhaps someone else found it and gave it a new home! Certainly lorikeets are a wonderful sight when they are flying free. I prefer them living outside and not in a cage!
Yes Sue, I prefer them living outside too. They might be beautiful to look at but they are very noisy as well!
DeleteNanna Chel,
ReplyDeleteWe have those in the trees out at our front yard. They make a noise. I'm not surprised to know you've buds on your trees, we've been having a weird winter I think.
I'll see you at the workshop on Saturday, looks like it will be another interesting one.
-Shiralee.
Shiralee, I hadn't seen them before for some reason. I just presumed it was a Rainbow Lorikeet until I got a closer look.
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