CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

My break is over. Lunch is had. Walk is walked. Farfetch'd has been fetched. I've caught three and will just have to be content with that. Here they are: The first farfetch'd hid out in a local pokemon gathering point where the pokemon just don't show up on the scanner. For some reason he thought I should not pass, so I stuffed him in a pokeball, and went looking for the next one. It helped that he needed improvement in battling.   The second one was just a short walk up the path - in another blind spot on the scanner, although, granted, these guys will occasionally show up as being 'nearby'. This one also needed to improve in battling. The third one was a surprise. I took a diversion up a path near another local pokestop. There are usually 3-4 pokemon along here, and they never show up on the scanner, so I thought I'd give it a final check, even though there'd been no farfetch'd there on the trip out. ...

Also known as the red-browed firetail, these little guys were incredibly hard to photograph. In the end, I had to be satisfied with pictures that also had sparrows. We've put wild bird mix in the feeder, which they all seem to enjoy. These shots were taken in early November 2015. Just so you know, this is NOT a red-browed finch - although there is one in the background; the bird in front is a young female sparrow. The two of them seem to share quite well, and you can just see the red-brows for which the finch is named. He looks even better, on his own. And doesn't seem to mind the camera at all. The sparrow returns, but the finch is not intimidated. You can see the red markings on his rump that give him the name 'red-browed firetail'. The two dine quite companionably, and the finch turns a little more so we can get a better look at the tail markings. Here's another angle showing his face mask and beak. And then he turns...

The birds continue to come to my garden to visit. Here are some of the beautiful visitors who arrived stopped by to take advantage of the bird seed and garden bounty during February and March of 2015: Some were young. And some were quite surprised to see me. Others weren't going to let the presence of a camera spoil a perfectly good meal. And there was plenty on the tree for all.

It's coming up to Spring in Canberra, and the cherry trees are out in bloom. There will be cherry blossom festivals - one in Cowra and the Nara candlelight festival in Canberra itself. Worth going to, if you're in the area. I can't make the Cowra festival, but I have hopes for this year's Nara. In the meantime, we're having a lot of visitors to the garden that love the nectar to be found in the cherry blossom. This is a red wattlebird. The one's in our area are very shy so I was pleased this one decided the nectar was more important than worrying about me. At first all I could see was movement, and then I realised I had a visitor. He was cautious, at first, and stopped feeding to take a good look at the pest with the camera, but soon, the cherry blossoms caught his eye, again, and he went back to feeding, before flying away to investigate the blossoms on another tree. You can find out more about wattlebirds at the follow...

This little lady came to visit. She and her friends pop by on occasion, but they always flee before I can get them all on camera. This is a superb fairy wren. You can find more information on the superb fairy wren at: http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Malurus-cyaneus

In addition to the sulphur-crested cockatoos, we had a flock of galahs come to enjoy the fruit on the backyard trees. It makes a change from seeing them grazing on grass seeds. Of course, not everyone had the hang of landing. Those trees can be tricky to perch on, don't ya know? Even when you manage to get set down, there's still the delicate balancing act. Before the serious business of feeding and grooming can be undertaken.

I went through a couple of months where the main birds that visited my backyard were crimson rosellas. This coincided with the trees fruiting, so I probably shouldn't be surprised. This pair hadn't yet exchanged their green 'baby' plumage for the more colourful red and blue of an adult, and probably wouldn't for another two years. I hope they stick around so I can see that. I had quite a hard time identifying them because of it. As you can see, the green is very handy for camouflaging them against the grass. The first shot caught them unawares and caused them a bit of concern,  but they decided food was more important. Definitely more important. They kept eating, but they kept a very good eye on the camera. I stayed just inside my back door, and they tolerated me photographing them. When they both bobbed down to collect more to eat, they became very hard to see. They took one more very assessing look, and then they decided they...

We have a couple of fruit trees in our backyard. I'm still not sure what kind of fruit trees they are, but the crimson rosellas, galahs and sulphur-crested cockatoos really like them, along with a variety of wild doves, pigeons, and wattlebirds. Here are few shots of the rosellas. This one is a young one. Whatever this is, it sure tastes good to these guys. Even if it's a little chewy... And that human is showing a bit too much interest. Oh, wait! There's a really nice one over there. Got it! If you want to see more, here are a couple of 'live' links to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijR6b_FD8KQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1updpuTMdvI For some facts, you can try: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Crimson-Rosella http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Platycercus-elegans http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-crimson-rosella.html http://members.tip.net.au/~mos/cr_ros2.htm