Tag: kookaburras

Australia · gardening · photography

A Touch of Paradise ~ The Kookaburra Kingdom

Joanne8 Comments

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“Flamingos Kookaburras walk, and sway in peace
Seeing this, it makes my troubles cease
The sun is hiding, leaving a pink scar
That stretches right across the sky….” ~ A Touch of Paradise sung by John Farnham.

Regular visitors will have become quite familiar with the next Australian icon I am featuring here, as part of my series of Australia Day posts ~ The Laughing Kookaburra.

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Every time a kookaburra visits, it really is a Touch of Paradise in my back yard. Now would be the perfect time to click on the link of the song, written by the wonderful Australian musician Ross Wilson, and performed by John Farnham.

Now back to the kookaburras….

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Kookaburras are part of the Kingfisher family, growing to a height on average of 42 cm. They are native to Australia, territorial and mate for life.

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Their nests are made in the hollows of trees and both parents share the duties of caring for their young.

From watching the kookaburras each day as they come to feed in my garden, there are certain points I have noticed about their behaviour. Reading through the facts, so as I can tell you all a few actual factuals about these most recognisable of Australian birds, it is interesting to read about things that I have already noted!

Territorial groups of kookaburras flock together.
Territorial groups of kookaburras flock together.

For example, they don’t arrive on my feeding table in pairs only, I can have any number of kookaburras here, sometimes up to eight at the same time, who intermingle amicably with one another. The facts confirm this to be so, that they do cohabit in a set area, even sharing the responsibilities of their young.

That explains another thing I have noticed about the young kookaburras, they will take food from any of the adults at the feeding table.

A timid baby, still finding its way in the big world.
A timid baby, still finding its way in the big world.

So who belongs to who? Which adults do the baby kookaburras belong to?

It seems to me that in the Kingdom of Kookaburras, it simply doesn’t matter! The babies are taken care of by the multitudes. I guess you could say they watch out for each others backs!

Creamy coloured babies, like chocolate and milk.
Creamy coloured babies, like chocolate and milk.

The beautifully pristine and gloriously coloured baby birds are still quite shy when I take their food out to them, preferring to stay on the clothesline and watch me from afar….

….and then there’s Larry.

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This is Larry on the left, taking care of his, or perhaps another kookaburras baby. Who knows in the Kookaburras World. They all look out for one another.

Have I mentioned my old mate Larry before? He’s my Ultimate Tame Bird, out of all the birds who visit. I can hand feed Larry, he flies straight up to me and looks straight into my eyes, often with his head tilted to one side, as if questioning me.

If only he could tell me what he is thinking! A penny for your thoughts Larry?

When I asked my daughter Emma to feed Larry for me, so as I could take a photo of him being hand fed, Larry was a tad reluctant. "Who's this?", he seemed to be asking!
When I asked my daughter Emma to feed Larry for me, so as I could take a photo of him being hand fed, Larry was a tad reluctant. “Who’s this?”, he seemed to be asking!

When I am in the garden there is usually a kookaburra nearby. As much as I would like to think they are enjoying my company, the reality is that they are hoping I will rearrange some earth, disturb a worm or witchety grub, and faster than the bug can say “kookaburra”, it’s been swooped upon, flicked against a hard surface and eaten!

"There's gotta be a worm in here somewhere!"
“There’s gotta be a worm in here somewhere!”

Kookaburras will perch patiently on the branch of a tree for hours, watching, and waiting. Their eagle kookaburra eyes don’t miss a thing and once spotted, their prey doesn’t stand a chance!

Watching, waiting....
Watching, waiting….

As the old wives tale would lead us to believe the kookaburras burst out into great choruses of laughter when there is rain about, and in years gone by housewives would swear by the accuracy of this tale, rushing into the garden to bring the washing in when the kookaburras started their song of so-called warning.

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The truth of the matter is that their laughter is a warning….for other kookaburras to clear off! They are telling any stray kookies who may be lurking amid the nearby foliage that this area is taken!

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Yes, this area is taken, by the Kings of the Bush, who have transformed my garden into A Touch of Paradise. 🙂

Australia · music · photography

Iconically pegged out to dry

Joanne8 Comments

clothesline1

The Australian icon I will be focusing on today is something just a bit different and no, it is not a kookaburra, although they occasionally play a part in this story, being the gregarious birds that they are!

Today’s icon is the humble clothesline, or to be more precise, The Hills Hoist.

I’ll bet you didn’t see that one coming! 😉

The Hills Hoist, an Australian invention was first manufactured in Adelaide, South Australia in 1945 by Lance Hill and has become a standard item in the back yards of suburban Australia for several decades.

I would have been lost without my Hills Hoist during the years that my four children were growing up and even these days with only two children and two adults living at home, it surely does make washing day so much easier.

Hills

And as you can see, our Hills Hoist rotary clothes lines are not only useful for hanging out the washing to dry. Where would our kookaburras perch so near to the house without a clothesline being there? Mind you, they pay no regard to the fact that the clothes are clean before they hop upon their magical merry-go-rounds.

How do the folks in cold climates manage their washing days? I’ve heard that laundry rooms are built to be far bigger in countries where the weather is….um….not the best for hanging the washing outdoors to dry, shall I say.

Seriously, how do you dry your clothes when there is snow on the ground reaching up as high as the rooftops?! Are electric clothes dryers the norm in the Northern Hemisphere? When I contemplate such thoughts, I have to admit that perhaps I do take our predominantly fine weather for granted!

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Speaking of the weather, the song I have chosen for you to listen to today is “Weather With You” from Crowded House. The members of Crowded House are technically New Zealanders but they did make their name here in Australia, so we have claimed them as our own.

The video was filmed in Victoria and shows a cute little old caravan travelling around with the band, which leads me to another question. Here in Australia, taking a holiday road trip and towing a caravan behind the car is quite common place, but I wonder if this is the way families take their holidays in other countries?

As much as I love my home and wouldn’t want to part with my creature comforts for any extended amount of time, I must admit to rather enjoying travelling with a caravan. In fact I have lived in a caravan twice during my younger years. Just last year I wrote about my experience of travelling and living in a caravan for four months at one stage in my early life in a post I called “A Sea Change – (AKA An Adventure with my Reckless Parents!)”

My clothesline features in a number of the photos I add here, so the next time you see my Hills Hoist, you will know that it is yet another Australian Icon.

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“There’s a small boat made of china,
Going nowhere on the mantlepiece.
Do I lie like a loungeroom lizard,
Or do I sing like a bird released?

Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you,
Everywhere you go you always take the weather….” ~ Weather With You.

Australia · friends · laughter

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree….or on the clothesline!

Joanne12 Comments

Since I started feeding the wild birds who visit my garden, on a regular basis, word must have got around among the Feathered Friends Kingdom that easy to come by food is available in the backyard where the magpies congregate.

When Kathy from Lake Superior Spirit paid me a virtual visit the other day, she told me that she would like to hear a kookaburra laughing.

Well Kathy, rarely do you ever hear just one kookaburra laughing! Even if you only see one kookaburra in the garden, as soon as one begins to laugh, before you know it you have a whole symphony of Laughing Jackasses (the largest members of the Kingfisher family) going hard at it! The whole family is never too far away.

Some days I have eight kookies perched on my clothesline. They prefer meaty treats, but also seem quite content to settle for sharing the bread with the magpies, and various other feathered visitors.

I found this link to the laugh of kookaburras, which sounds true to the real sound. You don’t want to be too close to them when one of them cracks a joke, because their laughter will deafen you!

What’s so funny, eh?

I had intended adding more photos of my other, not so loud, birdie visitors here today, but will save their photos for tomorrow, (or Thursday), for the simple fact that the kookaburras prefer to steal the limelight!

I’m sure all the other birds will thank me for allowing them their own moment in the spotlight, without those comedian kookaburras overshadowing them! 😉