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Mar. 23rd, 2009 10:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nigeltdeI just had the greatest psychodrama play out outside my kitchen window.
We've got this female blackbird missing the feathers on the back of her neck who loves to spread all the pea straw in my tiny speck of garden all over the concrete of the public area of out block of units. I watched her do this for some time before she hopped around to the birdbath and spent ages having a drink and a bath. Then this massive bully of a Red Wattlebird came over and chased her off, told himself how great he was, had a bit of a hop around and a drink, coughed and shat at the same time, then jumped in and had a bath too. Meanwhile a this pair of White-plumed Honeyeaters that nest in the tree a couple of meters away are hovering around gossiping, flying up to the birdbath and fluttering away in a big show of wingspan and agility (they are tiny in comparison) until they annoy him enough and he fucks off. Then one of the honeyeaters flops about in the water for a while while the other sits in the jasmine and chirps encouragement and shouts at a New Holland Honeyeater that looks suspicious until the bloody blackbird comes back, kicks them out and has another bath. Then when she finally left I ran outside and refilled the bath because they'd managed to spill all the water out.
Last night we were at my mum's, who lives next to a big conservation park, and we saw a koala in the tree across the road. When we went to have a closer look (very cute!) there were Corellas grazing and a bunch of Rosellas hanging around enjoying being colourful and just all sorts, a lot of noise and life and I was very wistful thinking about my own little concrete-bordered patch on a major freight road. I never see many birds out there except for my pesky blackbird and the WPHs and the odd feral pigeon, and I've never seen them have baths, even during the heatwave.
Since we moved in I've been trying to make our garden bird-friendly, especially native-friendly, especially especially those natives that don't adapt too well to urban environments. Not doing too well on the last bit, gotta get more nectar plants and seed grasses, and it's not an ideal area for it, but after this morning's little display I am cheered immensely!
We've got this female blackbird missing the feathers on the back of her neck who loves to spread all the pea straw in my tiny speck of garden all over the concrete of the public area of out block of units. I watched her do this for some time before she hopped around to the birdbath and spent ages having a drink and a bath. Then this massive bully of a Red Wattlebird came over and chased her off, told himself how great he was, had a bit of a hop around and a drink, coughed and shat at the same time, then jumped in and had a bath too. Meanwhile a this pair of White-plumed Honeyeaters that nest in the tree a couple of meters away are hovering around gossiping, flying up to the birdbath and fluttering away in a big show of wingspan and agility (they are tiny in comparison) until they annoy him enough and he fucks off. Then one of the honeyeaters flops about in the water for a while while the other sits in the jasmine and chirps encouragement and shouts at a New Holland Honeyeater that looks suspicious until the bloody blackbird comes back, kicks them out and has another bath. Then when she finally left I ran outside and refilled the bath because they'd managed to spill all the water out.
Last night we were at my mum's, who lives next to a big conservation park, and we saw a koala in the tree across the road. When we went to have a closer look (very cute!) there were Corellas grazing and a bunch of Rosellas hanging around enjoying being colourful and just all sorts, a lot of noise and life and I was very wistful thinking about my own little concrete-bordered patch on a major freight road. I never see many birds out there except for my pesky blackbird and the WPHs and the odd feral pigeon, and I've never seen them have baths, even during the heatwave.
Since we moved in I've been trying to make our garden bird-friendly, especially native-friendly, especially especially those natives that don't adapt too well to urban environments. Not doing too well on the last bit, gotta get more nectar plants and seed grasses, and it's not an ideal area for it, but after this morning's little display I am cheered immensely!
