BIRD NEWS:500

My penultimate shot from Portsmouth is of a pair of swans - sort of. One swan was real - but the other is a boat! My final shot from our trip shows another seagull sculpture. It appears to have once been a pub or hotel - but is now a real estate agents office.

As this is my 500th post, I thought I would share a few pictures from over the past decade or two to complete it.  Having lived in Australia for 22 years, until around a decade ago, I came across various strange birds that might be unfamiliar to you unless you have been there. 

My first shows a baby black-backed magpie, a common garden visitor in our former residence. When we first moved to Wollongong from Woolooware the magpies were the first birds we interacted with.  they would come to our door, tame, and 'beg' for cheese chunks. Sometimes they got to know us so well they would come inside the back door that we left open, hop thru the porch into the kitchen and stand by the fridge to beg - they knew where that cheese lived!

Of course, it was not long before pigeons found us, multiplied, and became daily guests.

Another couple of regular guests to theyard were myna birds and turtle doves.

Pelicans used to hang out the harbor and use whatever they could find to perch upon - such as lampposts.

To end today's special post - a cockatoo, kookaburra and rainbow lorikeet. there were many other birds I met whilst living in Australia, and I wrote a book about our local population several years ago. You can still purchase it if you are interested in a longer, more detailed, account of my encounters or want to have a complete list of localized species, including the lyre bird, fairy wren, galah, currawong, etc. HERE is the link to view a sample from the book, if you are interested.