Just a teaser in the title today, we'll get to the birds in a few!
Alex did a spectacular job at the music performance last night! She sang a solo with a group of 4 girls who did a pretty good job with Ain't no Mountain High Enough. It was a bit of a zoo-one of the girls didn't show for the concert so they drafted 2 year 7 girls to fill in last minute. For that matter, the entire evening was a bit thrown together, but the effort on the part of the kids was nice and it was good to see so many kids enjoying the music. Thank you to Coorparoo Primary for letting us use their Auditorium-beautiful facility! And thank you to Wenatchee music teachers-your standards are high and Alex was missing your organization and encouragement last night!
Now, back to the birds. Australia has several similar bird species to North America. A couple you would find very familiar also have the same names-the Crow and the Magpie. 1st, the Magpie. Here's a link to Wikipedia describing the bird and a nice picture too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Magpie
As for the bird itself, it is a bit larger than our Magpie, but just as noisy. I was at the park last week with Ian and one hopped up next to me, eyeballing me like I was going to steal his lunch. Turns out I may have just done that, in his mind. He proceeded to ram his beak all the way up to his eyes several times into the mulch, and on the 4th or 5th try, came out with a lovely and very large grub. It was black and white and about the size of a large person's thumb! Yum, I think. As spring is just getting into swing here, nesting season is also starting. These guys are very territorial and will attack anything walking or riding under their tree. Lyle was dive bombed a few days ago, and there is a tree stand at school with warning signs on the fence. It is suggested to bring an umbrella or wear a large hat to protect yourself!
My personal favorite is the Australian Raven. These guys are huge and loud! They don't say Caw, more of a groaning cry that really freaked us out until we figured out what the heck it was. If I can figure out how to post sounds, I'll record one and get up here sometime. We just call it the Crow Aussie accent. These guys are smart and like to hang out with human inhabited areas. They have figured out that schools are the best! There are no real cafeterias in schools here and the kids eat sack lunches outside, usually under the elevated buildings or under canopy shades. They store their packs and lunches outside on shelves or hooks, typically unzipped so they can grab snacks and books on their way out and about. The birds know this and will go for any food that is not in a solid container. Alex was warned by several girls to keep her bag closed until she got a hard sided lunchbox and watched a Raven fly off with a kid's sandwich still in the baggie yesterday. Here's some info on our Ravens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Raven if you are interested.
As for other birds, there are so many! The lorikeets are adorable and so fast! They are most active and noisy at sunrise and sunset. Understand they are the favorite food for Perigrine Falcons, so they fly in large coordinated flocks-and can they fly fast! They look like a feathered school of fish flying together! There is another bird I call a sentry bird-if one sees something it does't like it starts screeching and the rest take up the cry. Nothing like about 200 of them going off at sunrise to wake you up in the morning! Add in the kookaburra laughing at dawn, and it's a noisy way to get your day going.
Alex did a spectacular job at the music performance last night! She sang a solo with a group of 4 girls who did a pretty good job with Ain't no Mountain High Enough. It was a bit of a zoo-one of the girls didn't show for the concert so they drafted 2 year 7 girls to fill in last minute. For that matter, the entire evening was a bit thrown together, but the effort on the part of the kids was nice and it was good to see so many kids enjoying the music. Thank you to Coorparoo Primary for letting us use their Auditorium-beautiful facility! And thank you to Wenatchee music teachers-your standards are high and Alex was missing your organization and encouragement last night!
Now, back to the birds. Australia has several similar bird species to North America. A couple you would find very familiar also have the same names-the Crow and the Magpie. 1st, the Magpie. Here's a link to Wikipedia describing the bird and a nice picture too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Magpie
As for the bird itself, it is a bit larger than our Magpie, but just as noisy. I was at the park last week with Ian and one hopped up next to me, eyeballing me like I was going to steal his lunch. Turns out I may have just done that, in his mind. He proceeded to ram his beak all the way up to his eyes several times into the mulch, and on the 4th or 5th try, came out with a lovely and very large grub. It was black and white and about the size of a large person's thumb! Yum, I think. As spring is just getting into swing here, nesting season is also starting. These guys are very territorial and will attack anything walking or riding under their tree. Lyle was dive bombed a few days ago, and there is a tree stand at school with warning signs on the fence. It is suggested to bring an umbrella or wear a large hat to protect yourself!
My personal favorite is the Australian Raven. These guys are huge and loud! They don't say Caw, more of a groaning cry that really freaked us out until we figured out what the heck it was. If I can figure out how to post sounds, I'll record one and get up here sometime. We just call it the Crow Aussie accent. These guys are smart and like to hang out with human inhabited areas. They have figured out that schools are the best! There are no real cafeterias in schools here and the kids eat sack lunches outside, usually under the elevated buildings or under canopy shades. They store their packs and lunches outside on shelves or hooks, typically unzipped so they can grab snacks and books on their way out and about. The birds know this and will go for any food that is not in a solid container. Alex was warned by several girls to keep her bag closed until she got a hard sided lunchbox and watched a Raven fly off with a kid's sandwich still in the baggie yesterday. Here's some info on our Ravens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Raven if you are interested.
As for other birds, there are so many! The lorikeets are adorable and so fast! They are most active and noisy at sunrise and sunset. Understand they are the favorite food for Perigrine Falcons, so they fly in large coordinated flocks-and can they fly fast! They look like a feathered school of fish flying together! There is another bird I call a sentry bird-if one sees something it does't like it starts screeching and the rest take up the cry. Nothing like about 200 of them going off at sunrise to wake you up in the morning! Add in the kookaburra laughing at dawn, and it's a noisy way to get your day going.
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