Poor Soaked Wretch

This poor wet Australian Magpie, that we fondly call "Randal", was begging for food on our balcony today. There has been a pair of them hanging around recently, and I suspect they are trying to feed and care for a new family. I've been giving the Magpies and the Kookaburras doggie meatballs (not meatballs made out of dogs) which they can't seem to get enough of. They are all cheeky enough to take the food right out of my hand. The maggies are particularly amazing to watch because they can pluck a piece of food out of thin air while in full flight mode. The kookaburras are not so nimble. They wait for the food to drop to the ground and then grab it.

We still have our regular rainbow lorikeets that visit (Benito and his wife), and during these rainy days, they huddle together on the "roost" I made for them enjoying relative dryness. Lorikeets are very affectionate with each other.

Musings...

So... as one ages, does one get dumber or does one get wiser and just truly begin to realize how much one really doesn't know? Put another way, am I losing smarts or gaining self knowledge? Hmmmm.

We had four Kookaburras outside our balcony yesterday. They are funny birds. They usually don't find Tim or I very interesting since we are fish eating vegetarians, but someone suggested dog mince to me - and well, they like us more now. When it comes to food, these birds know no fear. One Kookie (as they are endearingly called here) flew right up to me to grab the mince. This is what they sound like. And here's a photo I got the other day:

















It's not a great photo, but it was overcast.

Here's a photo of a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo. He was just a foot away from me.... speaking of fearless!



When these birds arrive I do battle with them to scare them away. They are known to destroy timber homes if you stop feeding them. They are beautiful though.

Judi xxoo