The hot summer is almost over. Humidity wars with cooling breezes, and together they cook up thunderstorms, but most of these pass with a whimper.
The macadamia tree is dropping its fruit steadily, but it is still laden, branches sagging. The pecan tree is covered with ripening nuts, and some branches are so loaded down, they drag on the ground. Birds like the pecan in summer, when it is full of foliage. Banana passionfruit are ripening on the back fence, the choko vine is growing like something crazed, paw-paws hang pendant-like from one tree, and cluster around the trunk of another. My second banana plant has fallen over in one of the stiff breezes, and I doubt that I'll see another sprout from the base. Trees everywhere are growing with gusto after all the rain recently.
The crows raised one baby, and - as we've seen them do before - have arrived with another, younger one. I think they steal them! lol We have noisy visits from them and their loud baby most mornings, and I've relented, and feed them sometimes. I saw a program on television not long ago, which showed a possum eating bird eggs! No wonder the crows attack them.
The magpies are unrecognisable! Both parents are sleek, well-groomed, and beautiful. The female has regrown her neck feathers, and obviously both have time to bath again! The "baby" is still young-looking, but fully grown, and it feeds itself, with only an occasional begging look at its parents. They have clearly had "the talk" with it, and it never begs now. It still accompanies them, and will for a while, but as it matures, it will become independent, and find its own mate. They started out on an electricity pole, with their little nest at the mercy of the elements, and one chick died, but they have managed to raise a healthy and independent offspring, and they've done themselves proud! My constant delight is that this baby eats from my hand, even when the parents aren't around. I don't get to feed them much while I'm working, but my son does. He loves them as much as I do. The baby is beginning to find its voice. Most of what comes out is still a screech, but the screech is developing a musical tone now, and it won't be long before it has written its own song, and is using that to defend its own territory. (They never copy their parents' songs.)
The noisy miner birds have nested. It seems that feeding babies is a woman's job with them, or perhaps the male has died. The little black-faced grey birds were visiting last week, and when the parent seemed to be attacking, I realised it was the little bird who had been catching food on the wing. I was able to throw pieces of meat skyward, and it would swoop, snapping the morsels in its beak with incredible accuracy. It was feeding two very big babies, so the abundance of insects this summer has been a boon for some.
To top it off, a little black bird with a "v" shaped tail - definitely not related to swifts or swallows, and bigger, with a ruffle around its head which it can puff up - is a regular visitor to the macadamia tree. It makes the craziest noises, and is very funny. It was watching on the day I threw the food to the noisy miner. It decided to get in on the act, and tried to dive for food. Sadly, it's just not very good at it! I don't think it caught one piece, but it deserved a medal for its effort. It is just the cutest bird!
Alas, the possums have not been sighted recently. The box is still there, and they know about it, so that's all I can do.
As the cooler months set in, we will feed the birds a little more. Cities are barren places. And next year, I wonder if our brave little magpies will rebuild on top of the electricity pole?
I had a cockatiel once. His name was Comet. He was a looney bird.LOL He loved to walk about on tabletops and pick things up, walk over to the edge and drop them off. He would then spread his wings and yell "OH NO". He was also great at spotting flies and spiders on the walls and ceiling. They scared the you know what out of him. He would get into this crouch, like he was trying to cover his head and then shreek his head off til someone got rid of the offending bug.