16 March 2019

11. THE KING'S PUNISHMENT

Rex hates Poppy Peahen being a free bird, but she loves it. When I go into the garden, she follows making assorted popping noises. I’m her feeder; she equates me with food. If I emerge from the house without offering her a morsel, I get a great deal of clucking.
Quizzical looks from the Indian Peafowl that flew into our lives out of the blue.

10 March 2019

10. NOSE HAIR PLUCKING



The newsreader at the radio station where I worked as an announcer had friends moving interstate. They wanted to get rid of their Budgerigars. When I first saw the one blue and one green bird, I knew they were meant for me. 

08 March 2019

9. SCRAWNY MOUTH FROG OWL

Teaching Primary School, at least 150 kids surrounded a tree in the garden.

'It's an owl.'
'It doesn't look like one.'
'Is that an owl?'
'Where?'
'Up there.'
'It's weird.'
'See it?'
'I can't see anyfing.'
'It's eyes are creepy.'
'Oh, there it is.'

Before school the word owl ran through the school like a runaway train. The teachers tried to keep the children back; discouraging boys to poke it with sticks or climb the tree to touch it. That wasn't easy; especially when I wanted a closer look at the Tawny Frogmouth too.

03 March 2019

8. PROFESSORIAL SEX CHANGE


The first week we had Professor Popplecock we plopped him in a goat transport cage. He was safe inside, protected from Rex; a dog trained to herd animals, a pet who wanted to eat the peacock more than anything.

01 March 2019

7. COCKATOO CACOPHANY


Does anyone like going to the dentist? Not me. 
The sun was setting as I drove home with an aching jaw. Feeling sorry for myself, I watched birds on electricity wires cheeping out goodnights. Noticing a dark mass in the distance, I stopped the car. What sounded like a squawk fest became louder. I pointed my camera at fading clouds. The cockies were coming.

27 February 2019

6. SILVER EYED SQUADRON ATTACK


Last October, we had a family lunch in the city. I hadn’t watered the garden before we left and it had been a scorcher. Jetting the hose onto seedlings at the base of a gum, I heard a whole lot of squawking going on.

23 February 2019

5. A LION HEARTED DIAMOND


It was a striker with a rump as red as a fire engine. A Diamond Firetail Finch had splattered against the window. Floppy in my hand, the weight of it barely registered.

11 February 2019

4. IT'S A GOOSE

           
A weird sound woke me one morning when the edge of the eastern sky had just started to lighten up. It was a grunt, a honking noise followed by a shrill squeak.