CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

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.

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.

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.

This is one of the noisiest of the Australian birds - or, at least, the one most people notice. I found this one grazing on his own, completely unperturbed by the end of a nearby soccer game, but cautious of a nosy woman with a camera. Known most broadly as a galah, they are also called the rose-breasted cockatoo. Their crazy antics while flying in flocks is the reason that humans exhibiting crazy or stupid behaviours are also called 'galahs'. I got as close as I could to start with. The raised crest means he's aware I'm there and watching me. And then I got a little closer. And closer still.  I was really missing my longer lens, but it was back at the house, so the short one had to do.  The wind was blowing, which is why the feathers are so ruffled in the shot above. In the shot below, the bird is giving me another long look, before it decides the grass is a better option than flying away.