Yes, I think it’s official.
I’ve achieved “Bird-nerd” status.
Before my family and I moved to our property “Tambella”, in South-East Queensland, I never paid much mind to the feathery wildlife around me.
I grew up in rural New South Wales, and I was no stranger to being swooped by magpies on my walk home from the school bus, or counting black cockatoos as they crossed the sky before an afternoon storm to calculate how many days rain we were in for… But regardless, it was always with a sense of mild disinterest.
My husband and I have a morning routine at home, it involves meeting in the kitchen, dividing and conquering serving breakfast for the two little people in our lives, and making a pair of coffees that we then drink together, by the kitchen window.
Every morning without fail, we see a myriad of amazing bird-life up close and personal. Majestic King parrots, preening on the deck, a squadron of Rainbow Lorikeets zooming past in formation over the garden, a huddle of Wood Ducks guiding their ducklings for their first swimming lesson in our dam.
There is literally a whole feathery world of activity going on right out our back door and breakfast always feels like we’ve stumbled upon the one way mirror that gives us a voyeurs perspective of all the goings on.
I catch myself now, remarking to friends what a funky dance the “jingeri” (willie wagtails) do on our compost bin. Or how ridiculous the Sulfur Crested Cockatoos are as they jostle over position in the big gum on our fence line.
If there are any other bird nerds out there, I’d love to hear about it, and what was the point in which you realised that the term ‘twitching’, could be applied to you in more ways than one.
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