Bonzer Words!: Birds And Fruit
...They remind me of Charlie Chaplin with their funny sideways walk, head down and flashing their beautiful colours under their wings. All the time screaming 'LOOK at me, LOOK at me, am I not the most BEAUTIFUL and SEXY thing you have ever seen.'...
Margaret van Dyk tells of the wildlife visitors to her garden.
After Tilley, my dog, passed on, the birds which she refused to share her verandah with started to visit. The main group being the Lorikeets. So friendly, colourful and oh so noisy. We have fun watching the amorous males trying desperately to attract a female. They remind me of Charlie Chaplin with their funny sideways walk, head down and flashing their beautiful colours under their wings. All the time screaming 'LOOK at me, LOOK at me, am I not the most BEAUTIFUL and SEXY thing you have ever seen.' While the female looks bored and moves away. Typical males!
Mickey and Bob Bob Bob.
Then one afternoon we noticed two juvenile magpies hanging round. One was very bold and I think he had contact with humans before and I called him Mickey. The second was more timid and would watch me feeding Mickey from a distance, but still on the verandah, he would bob up and down as if trying to get the courage to come closer—hence he was called Bob Bob Bob. What a lovely two months we had with this pair. They would arrive at any time during the day and Mickey would sit on the back of a chair on the verandah, gaze inside and sing his little heart out and Bob Bob Bob would be on the verandah rail bobbing up and down. We made sure the screen doors (we have 4 sets onto the verandah) were shut because we were sure Mickey would stroll in, given the opportunity. We would have friends arrive for lunch and had Hennie's 73rd birthday lunch on the verandah and Mickey would be there to entertain us with Bob Bob Bob in the background. Happy days.
After a month or so I noticed that Mickey had bald spots on his head and rang my friend Trixie, who is a native bird carer in Brisbane. She told me it could be bird lice and if I wanted to I could put Mickey in a box and take him to her. She would do what she could but she admitted what she could do was not much.
Even though I had been feeding Mickey by hand I could not see myself handling him, putting him in a box and taking him 40 kms to Logan. He was a wild bird who, for some reason, liked me. I was privileged and felt I could not put him through such a trauma. So I let nature take its course.
Bob Bob Bob stayed around for a little while on his own and I fed him until he went on his way. I hope he had a good life without Mickey.
We had the best crop of Custard Apples this April/May; once again the rain fell at the right time. Both Hennie and I are big fans of this funny-looking fruit but so are the possums. I think the score was love-all.
They are also known as Bullock or Bulls Hearts. I much prefer Custard Apples for that is just what they taste like.
When it comes to Guavas we are not real fans but the Possums adore them. One tree is outside our bedroom window and we hear the Possums raising their voices at each other during the night as they try to get what they each see as their fair share. It was a daily chore to sweep up the half-eaten fruit as well as dropping. The second tree is much further away from the house and the Possums did not seem to find it.
© Margaret van Dyk
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Margaret writes for Bonzer! magazine www.bonzer.org.au
