Birdwatching

Our backyard is a good birdwatching spot. I don't know if its good for variety, but its good for observing behaviour. This time of year the wattles attract big greenish parrots who shred the flowers - I suppose to get at some kind of grubs. There are little rubbish piles of wattle flower everywhere. A team of them were doing over the tree outside the boys room on Saturday.

A couple of weeks back we saw a mop of herons. I don't know the collective noun for herons, but that sounds right. The flew over quite low, and just as they passed us they saluted with a collective "whhAAAAAAAAAAAAARKH".

Later the same day we saw two little birds harrying a big hawk. They were driving it away from their nest I suppose. They kept at it until it was way over the other side of the valley, then we saw one break off and fly back to resume home duties. The other one, emboldened by success, kept pursuing the hawk that was four times its' size, until I lost them in the dark background of the opposite hill.