CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

I can never tell what I'll find when I head out of the house. This fine afternoon, I found a pair of eastern rosellas, but only one of them would oblige me by sitting long enough to sit still for a photograph or three. He looked very handsome in the afternoon light, even when preparing to fly. I encountered them on another walk - this one in the morning but, as soon as I turned the camera towards them, they took wing. Here's all I got. To find out more about the crimson rosella, try visiting the following sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_rosella ; http://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/eastern-rosella ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAhduTGV4y4 ; http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=13581 ; http://www.mdahlem.net/birds/12/eastros.php ; http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Platycercus-eximius .

On a grey morning, I went out to look for birds. I didn't have a lot of luck, but I did spot these beauties coming in to land on this tree. I'd noticed them on other walks, on the ground, but this particular morning, they did not oblige by coming out of the tree. The first shot shows where they landed.  The next few shots catch show a glimpse of yellow and red. But it wasn't until this one turned side on, that I had enough to be able to identify them. I'm thinking the males have yellow faces.  And the females or juveniles are all green... maybe. Apparently, the superb parrot is a threatened species, so I feel particularly lucky to have been able to photograph these. More information on superb parrots can be found at the following sites: http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Polytelis-swainsonii ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superb_parrot ; http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10645 ; http:/...

So, I went for a bit of a walk, trying to get some different shots of the crimson rosellas. At first they proved to be very elusive, and they stayed that way for the morning. This was the only shot I had of a pair in a tree. For bright red and blue (and green) birds, they can be quite difficult to see, when they are feeding in long grass.  Harder still when they bend down to feed. There are two birds in each of the shots below.  And there they are again. If even red and blue birds can hide in the long grass, what chance do we have against velociraptors? You can find more about crimson lorikeets from the following sites: http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Platycercus-elegans ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_rosella ; http://birds.about.com/od/mediumbirds/p/Crimson-Rosellas-As-Pets.htm ; http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/322203/rosella4.pdf ; http://australianmuseum.net.au/Crimson-Rosella ...

There is an amazing amount of birdlife around my house. This fellow was part of a small flock of galahs that settled down to feast on grass seeds and flower heads not far from my back fence: They noticed the camera with human attached and kept an eye on it: But ot even the youngest one let it disturb its feeding: I tried to capture more than one of them together, but this proved to be almost impossible, and got a very direct look from the youngest of the flock: In the end, they moved to what they thought was a safer distance and I was able to take a group shot.

I went for a walk - and don't let the pine trees fool you, this is still Australia and still Canberra. I could hear the parrots, but not see them. Ad then I spotted a flash of colour. He was kind of hard to miss, really, sitting up there and preening in the morning sun: It took me a little while to notice the second bird sitting off to his right, but then he moved: And that was when I realized there were three of them. All together, and all watching the camera: