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| Rainbow Lorikeets |
As well as rosellas, we get colourful lorikeets and I have to say they're the stars of this piece. Here's a picture I took at my parents' house. As you can see, my parents put out food for them . These little birds are very cheeky and appealing, and raucous in large numbers. In wet weather they congregate near my parents' back door, on the eaves and outdoor windowsills, waiting for feed time. One even flew in one day, to be found hours later perched on the top of their curtains - obviously eager for seconds.
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| Free for all at feeding time |
You'll get a little idea from the picture what a scene they make - always on the move and squabbling even as they make room for each other. I get these in my yard too, flying down from the tall gum trees and filling up on edible fruits and flowers. In addition we get kookaburras (not nearly so pretty but with great character and a terrific laugh), king parrots in vivid red and emerald green that I'm sure is even brighter than the lorikeets, and a whole stack of other winged visitors.
Here's a surprise we discovered one day. Mum and baby ducklings had decided to have their first swim on our pool. Sorry the photo isn't too clear - I didn't want to distress them by getting too close. You can see them gathered on the far side of the pool. I got such a shock when I sat down to work early one morning and discovered this little lot paddling about. Unfortunately I had to go out later and missed seeing how mum got the babies out of there and down to the nearest watercourse.
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| Their first swim! |
In addition to birds we get snakes, including at least one venomous one, but as they're usually after frogs they don't bother us. We have the most marvellous slow-moving and very appealing blue tongue lizards (whose tongues really are blue). They creep through the undergrowth and give me the fright of my life when I'm weeding and think I've found a snake. We have at least two types of possum in our yard and have had a stand off with one who wanted to live in our roof. In addition there are the usual little critters including red back spiders (nasty little things related to black widow spiders) and funnel-web spiders which give me the creeps (yes, they're venomous). But, though it sounds like it could be scary, it's not. I'm glad to say we live pretty well in harmony with our wilder neigbours.
How about you? Do you get visitors to your garden or neighbourhood that remind you of the wider world of nature? Or do you have favourite creatures you haven't seen but would love to?
I'll give away a copy of my latest book to a person, chosen at random, from those who leave a comment.
I've got a new release out now: UNDONE BY HIS TOUCH, and for a change it's set in Australia. No, it doesn't feature flocks of birds or even venomous creepy crawlies. Instead it's got a brooding, scarred Aussie recluse of a hero who steals the limelight. This is my first Beauty and the Beast story and I'm very excited about it.
If you want to read more about it visit me at http://www.annie-west.com/ where you'll find an excerpt and links to buy it. It's a May release in Australia and New Zealand, and a June Presents Extra in North America. And, to my delight, it recently scored a 4 star review from Romantic Times.
