Foreign Invasion!

There is war in our peaceful back garden.

The battleground

The towering eucalypts are covered with flowers, which are beautiful to look at, but are clearly also delicious to our native birds.

The resident landowners

Our garden is usually home to a number of birds, including mainland Australia's largest honeyeater, the red wattlebird Anthochaera carnunculata. Ive never managed to get a good photo, but there is a beautiful shot of one here.

I like them, despite the undeniable truth: they're bossy, domineering and pugnacious. They very aggressively defend what they regard as their food-bearing plants from other birds. They're also very noisy. Listen to their bird call on the link.

The foreign invaders

The peaceful days of our wattlebirds have been shattered but the sudden arrival of a large flock of beautiful but equally bossy musk lorikeets Glossopsitta concinna.



These striking green, yellow and red lorikeets are also very noisy - and very busy. They are nomadic and travel widely in their search for flowering and fruiting trees. We have visits from them a number of times a year, most notably during December where they swoop in to decimate the crop on our 70 year old pear tree.

Anyway, back to the war.

There invaders have assumed possession of the wattlebird's eucalypts, and our residents don't like it one bit. The lorikeets are everywhere - noisy, active and efficient. The wattlebirds set up dove bomb attacks - which frighten the lorikeets to retreat to a safer tree with a general retreat of the whole flock.

Once things calm down a little back the come screeching and chattering as they come.

I'm glad our native garden in located a long way from our house - the cacophony has to be heard to be believed!!

Nature study has been easy in our home this week!!