Saturday, 6 August 2011

A tree full of surprises

A few months ago I was visiting my parents on the coast. During the afternoon I became aware of a commotion going on in the neighbour's umbrella tree. So I went out to investigate and found a medium sized flock of Rainbow Lorikeets.










A darter flew overhead. I think it's a darter. I don't know that I've ever seen one fly overhead before.


I spent about 20 minutes enjoying the noise and the colour. Then I noticed someone else lurking quietly in the tree. 

overexposed I know, but I like it

Saturday Snapshot, is a wonderful weekly meme from at home with books.

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19 comments:

  1. Leslie (Under My Apple Tree)6 August 2011 at 17:33

    What fun! I can watch birds for hours, especially entertaining ones like parrots. I once watched a small flock of Rosellas strip an apricot tree... bad birds! (That was while on a holiday... where I'm from in Chicago there are no parrots but we do have naughty birds).

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  2. Satia6 August 2011 at 20:32

    The other night we were standing outside and saw bats darting around our back yard. I leaned back to try to figure out how many there were as they moved in and out of the trees, disappearing and reappearing. After a few minutes we determined that there must have been three bats flying back and forth, circling and spiraling. It made me so happy because we hadn't had any last year and I was worried that the local environment had damaged the population somehow.

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  3. Trish6 August 2011 at 20:34

    I've only ever seen those birds in pet stores and zoos. How wonderful to see them in the wild!

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  4. Kaye6 August 2011 at 21:39

    Wow, those are amazing! I've never seen anything like that either (other than zoo or pet shop) Thanks for posting!!

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  5. Lisa@ButteryBooks6 August 2011 at 21:52

    I have never seen a rainbow lorikeet before...they are so colorful! Great photos.

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  6. Unknown6 August 2011 at 22:21

    Love it! There was a tree outside my window at my old job - a flock of (presumably) escaped sun conures loved to hang out there. What a racket, but great fun.

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  7. Laurel-Rain Snow6 August 2011 at 22:46

    Birds I like...bats, not so much. LOL

    I used to live in the foothills, and a couple of times, a bat got in the house. What a lot of flurry ensued! (Literally).

    We also used to see a row of vultures sitting atop the Eucalyptus trees that bordered the property.

    I like your parrots better!

    Here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT

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  8. Wanda7 August 2011 at 00:33

    What colourful birds, isn't it neat how they bring a personality all their own to photos?!

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  9. bermudaonion7 August 2011 at 01:02

    Oh my gosh, they're beautiful!

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  10. Alyce7 August 2011 at 01:29

    That is neat that you got to see so many birds while you were there! The only place I've ever seen lorikeets is the zoo.

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  11. Cath7 August 2011 at 01:47

    I love seeing photos of birds from other countries. These are amazing. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Irish7 August 2011 at 02:00

    What a fun discovery! I've never seen birds like this outside of a zoo/park either.

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  13. (Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea7 August 2011 at 07:37

    What lovely photos; I actually had to check where you were from as we don't have these lovely birds here obviously. Terrific pictures.

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  14. Irene7 August 2011 at 13:07

    What a wonderful discovery, they are magnificent.

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  15. gautami tripathy7 August 2011 at 22:26

    Terrific photos!

    Here is my Saturday Snapshot post!

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  16. Genie -- Paris and Beyond8 August 2011 at 01:19

    Colorful birds, a whole flock, in a tree with bright pink blooms - amazing! A kookaburra too? Was he laughing?

    Bises,
    Genie

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  17. Anonymous8 August 2011 at 21:04

    We have rainbow lorikeets down here in Melbourne now, and we certainly didn't have them thirty years ago. They were something that you had to go up into the tropics to see. Curious and curiouser. What is the tree, though? We certainly don't have those (...yet)

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  18. Raine9 August 2011 at 14:13

    I'm not familiar with the birds and I was happy of the links you've provided. I luv the Rainbow Lorikeets with their colorful feathers. The darter appeared to zooming to its next pit stop. ☺ What the last bird sitting quietly on the branch? :D Thanks for dropping by too.

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  19. Louise10 August 2011 at 00:55

    Thanks everyone for stopping by and commenting. Our native Australian parrots are amazing, I love seeing them, it's something you never tire of.

    Genie- sadly the kookaburra wasn't laughing which is why I didn't noticed him for the longest time.

    Janine that's really interesting. I did a bit of a google and it seems they're coming back to Melbourne!
    http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/18/1082226635772.html

    Raine- the last cheeky chap is a kookaburra, who have a raucous laughing call, he was being very silent this day though

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