Bird Watching

I’ve never thought of myself as a “birder,” but I find myself drawn to watch them on our adventures down under. In addition to watching our resident magpies ruling the roost, I’ve been captivated by a Eurasian blackbird who has been regularly and robustly singing from the top of the neighbor’s antennae.

As Andy and I strolled on our Saturday morning walk, we stopped by Lake Pertobe where there was no shortage of feathered friends. All the regulars were there: mallards, teal ducks, a pair of black swans, a pelican, Australian coots, swarms of seagulls begging for breadcrumbs, barrel-chested magpies, and our friends the pukeko. These birds have a striking appearance with black heads and wings, a deep blue chest, and a bright red beak that extends between the eyes and up over the forehead. The pukeko remind me of gangly 7^th grade boys, red blotches on their faces and not really sure what to do with all the awkward sprouting limbs. When they fly, which isn’t often or very high, their legs dangle below them. I stood and watched as one used his beak to pluck tufts of Bermuda grass and then hold it with his long red toes so he could eat what appeared to be one small piece of the root. Next to him was a little pile of discarded grass bits strewn about like sunflower seed shells at a softball game.

Along the beach boardwalk, we stopped to watch a bird that was coasting on the wind. We presumed it to be some type of kite, likely a harrier. The wind was strong enough to allow the bird to hover motionless for long periods of time over the dune grasses, which hopefully housed something tasty. The bird dove a few times, but didn’t come up with any lunch.

We, however, were ready for lunch so we stopped by a favorite café above the surf and life saving club. The large windows overlook Lady Bay, which featured racing sailboats today. I was more interested in the Superb Fairywrens on the boardwalk below. They really are the cutest little bird. Their long slender tail feathers perkily twitch back and forth and their heads are such a bright baby blue that they look like a cartoon. The poor little female fairywrens are the color of sand, similarly spirited but blending into the background and leaving the limelight for the flamboyant males.