A green feathered gem

What a wonderful day it has been. We started out at the open garden called Buccleuch at Mt. Barker, in the town where I grew up. The lady owner of the garden was in my class at school and we were close friends back then. It was so good to catch up and chat with her and her husband, also an old friend.

Next it was on to the Laratinga Wetlands, about 700m from their home! Naturally we were hoping to capture birds that had not been blipped before in BlipBigYear. Paladian caught a new bird, a Black-fronted Dotterel, and I captured for the first time a passable image of a Musk Lorikeet.

Greener feathers.

Having satisfied the bird photography bug, it was high time for some lunch satisfaction of our own, as it was by now 2PM. It did not take us long to get to our local multi-cultural fair at the Mitcham Community Centre. Had a wonderful lunch with a plate of Eritrean food, followed by capturing some video of a wonderful music group from Bandung, Indonesia, playing bamboo instruments.

It has been another wonderful weekend of magnificent gardens, great food, plus sighting many different birds at the wetlands.

If you have time for a bit more info on Musk Lorikeets, please read on:

The Musk Lorikeet is a medium-sized, sturdy lorikeet, sometimes seen in large flocks when trees are flowering and often in mixed flocks with other parrots and other birds. They are active and noisy. This lorikeet is mostly green, with a yellow patch at the side of the breast.

It has a bright red forehead and band through the eye to the ear coverts. The crown is blue, with females having less blue than males. In flight, brown flight feathers and the golden tail are revealed. Flight is fast and direct, with short angular wings and a medium-length, pointed to a wedge-shaped tail.

Musk Lorikeets are only found in south-eastern Australia, being widespread in eastern New South Wales, all regions of Victoria and in the south-east of South Australia.

Musk Lorikeets are found in tall, open, dry forest and woodlands, dominated by eucalypts and are usually found in the canopy. They are also seen in suburban areas, parks and street trees. They roost or loaf in tall trees away from their feeding sites.

They are considered nomadic, following the flowering or fruiting of food trees and they travel widely for food. Musk Lorikeets feed in all levels of the canopy and are very active when foraging. They eat mainly pollen and nectar from eucalypts using their specialised brush-tipped tongues, but also eat seeds, fruits and insects and their larvae.