We don't have professional burglars here. We have opportunists. Gerald Cyetko.
Guess who's been back, parading along my verandah rail as if he owned it?
He toddled along to where the bird feeder used to hang & had a jolly good look around. Thanks to him there is no feeder. It's in bits on the deck. I haven't fixed it because I thought our friend would be back & I definitely want to discourage him. He needs discouraging. Cockys are hugely destructive. However he turned himself upside down all the better to investigate underneath the rail & then he found the pieces. He stared as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He began screeching his displeasure ~ which happily attracted Issi's attention. Cocky removed himself to a nearby branch & continued to scold while Issi eyed him off.
We have a lot of birds round at present, partly because we provide a permanent water supply in the form of bird baths, & plenty of scrubby coverage for the little birds. Tiny 2" Finchs are feeding on the grass seed along the road verge. I have seen whistlers & flycatchers then Saturday I was abruptly woken from my *granny~nap* by a loud thump on the upstairs window. A lorrikeet had hit with some force & was sliding down our bottom roof in an untidy pile of feathers. While I was still contemplating whether I could venture onto the roof in an attempt to immobilize it while it recovered it scrabbled in the leaf litter in the gutter & tumbled over the edge. I was at the other window in a flash to see Issi pounce.
"Somebody grab the cat!" I screamed but both Ditz & Dearest had been following the series of upstairs thuds with interest & were well aware there was a bird in difficulties. Not that I think we really had to worry. Lorrikeets belong to the parrot family & like cockatoos are extremely aggressive & generally more than capable of defending themselves. Even dazed & brained with no idea he was upside down on his back the lorikeet let out an impressive hiss & showed Iss his talons. Iss did a back flip & slunk under the table, tail swishing unhappily. Ditz swooped up Issi & brought him inside where I distracted him with an early tea & after some drunken lurching around our verandah the lorikeet managed to get himself air~born again, though his landing was a little uncertain.
Doves & pigeons simply break their necks if they hit our windows & Iss drags them inside trying to convince us he's a big brave hunter but they are so stiff by the time Iss is game to approach them we can't help but laugh. Poor Iss looks so mortified. One year mating parrots hit together at such an angle they pierced the glass with their beaks! Not happy, Jan. No damage to the birds, of course, but we were up for a new sheet of glass.
Guess who's been back, parading along my verandah rail as if he owned it?
He toddled along to where the bird feeder used to hang & had a jolly good look around. Thanks to him there is no feeder. It's in bits on the deck. I haven't fixed it because I thought our friend would be back & I definitely want to discourage him. He needs discouraging. Cockys are hugely destructive. However he turned himself upside down all the better to investigate underneath the rail & then he found the pieces. He stared as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He began screeching his displeasure ~ which happily attracted Issi's attention. Cocky removed himself to a nearby branch & continued to scold while Issi eyed him off.We have a lot of birds round at present, partly because we provide a permanent water supply in the form of bird baths, & plenty of scrubby coverage for the little birds. Tiny 2" Finchs are feeding on the grass seed along the road verge. I have seen whistlers & flycatchers then Saturday I was abruptly woken from my *granny~nap* by a loud thump on the upstairs window. A lorrikeet had hit with some force & was sliding down our bottom roof in an untidy pile of feathers. While I was still contemplating whether I could venture onto the roof in an attempt to immobilize it while it recovered it scrabbled in the leaf litter in the gutter & tumbled over the edge. I was at the other window in a flash to see Issi pounce.
"Somebody grab the cat!" I screamed but both Ditz & Dearest had been following the series of upstairs thuds with interest & were well aware there was a bird in difficulties. Not that I think we really had to worry. Lorrikeets belong to the parrot family & like cockatoos are extremely aggressive & generally more than capable of defending themselves. Even dazed & brained with no idea he was upside down on his back the lorikeet let out an impressive hiss & showed Iss his talons. Iss did a back flip & slunk under the table, tail swishing unhappily. Ditz swooped up Issi & brought him inside where I distracted him with an early tea & after some drunken lurching around our verandah the lorikeet managed to get himself air~born again, though his landing was a little uncertain.
Doves & pigeons simply break their necks if they hit our windows & Iss drags them inside trying to convince us he's a big brave hunter but they are so stiff by the time Iss is game to approach them we can't help but laugh. Poor Iss looks so mortified. One year mating parrots hit together at such an angle they pierced the glass with their beaks! Not happy, Jan. No damage to the birds, of course, but we were up for a new sheet of glass.
9 comments:
WOW! Around here, parrots can only be seen at zoos or certain pet stores. I do so love that jazzy golden mohawk.
This is a very fine specimen but I rather think he's someone's escaped pet. He doesn't seem at all afraid of any of us ~ not even Iss.
Lorikeets are such beautiful birds. Around here they are common in zoos where children can feed them cups of nectar and my boys LOVE that. So glad the little one was able to fend off Issi, though I feel a little bad for mr Iss. I wanted a cockatoo as a pet once but decided against it knowing how long they live and I wasn't too sure what I would be doing with a parrot so I just look at pictures and boy they are beautiful.
I think you live in a tropical zoo! Nothing so interesting happens here. Except Grace grabs pigeons in mid-air and gulps them down whole before I can stop her. Bad dog. There is no escaping a greyhound that loves squab. Iss would not like her, but he would probably have a grudging respect for her. : )
I don't know if they are the same but your lorikeets look very much like some birds we had in Florida, which everyone simply called green parrots. What I remember of them is their squawking, and how they would strip my bottle brush tree and litter my yard with pieces of the red brushes because they did not eat it, that is until we had an outside cat who liked to lie in that tree. They may be pretty, but they were mostly considered a noisy, messy nuisance.
Birbitt:I'm not a big fan of the parrot family. They are very noisy & aggressive & their strong beaks can give you a nasty nip but they ARE very pretty. Neighbours kept a cockatoo for many years so I've had close up experience which I do not wish to repeat. ☺
Sandra: Wow. Grace is amazing & I'm so pleased she has made such a good recovery. All the dog walkers around here have complained to me about my cat. Apparrently he really likes to hide & attack leashed dogs from behind scaring them witless! Oh my. Lol. I don't think it's a zoo so much as an avairy. lol
Seeking: Yeah, parrots are strippers ~ one reason amongst many I don't like them. Dawn & dusk when they come into feed is pretty horrendous noise wise. They make a huge racket. They also have a propensity for dropping rather large sticks on people's heads ~ especially if the people have pinged them off. ☺
LOL You know you are privileged as these birds run about $2,000 here. Each. And the one I saw recently wasn't an amazing specimen.
He (she?) is absolutely beautiful!
MrsC: Yeah, I know. The bird smuggling business here is big business. I wouldn't pay $2,ooo.oo for a cockatoo though. Well, maybe a black one...
Britwife: S/he is a very lovely bird. Glossy & well fed.
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