The poet Mary Oliver liked to go out walking early in the morning. Although her landscape in the USA is undoubtedly different to mine, her poem has universal appeal to all who go out early in the morning.
”Softest of mornings hello. And what will you do today, I wonder with my heart…”
The National Arboretum of Canberra is a wonderful place to see the sun rise on a soft autumn morning.
Autumn is a very busy time for us, and we are trying get as much planting and tidying done in our garden, before we go and visit other gardens.
So here are just a few photos of our autumn garden…. and of course, the birds that come to visit…
A King Parrot feeding a young chick Easter daisies are a welcome addition to the autumn garden, the flowers are still attracting the bees The Chinese Lantern loves an abundance of rain, and has flowered all through the autumnCharlie cooling down amongst the Japanese anemones The Crimson Rosella is checking up on the last of our almonds Our granddaughter loves putting water in the apron of this little statue…The Pineapple Sage almost covering the window!
The tiny Eastern Spinebill is a regular visitor, feeding on the Pineapple Sage, which has almost taken over this part of the garden.
It is a most elusive little bird, but Paul just managed to get a photo of him with his phone.
My neighbour’s beautiful Banksia shines at us every morning It is amazing that cockatoos do not electrocute themselves!Job done!
Thank you for visiting Canberra’s Green Spaces today, and I hope your autumn or spring days are bright and sunny, where ever you are in the world.
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos are not the only birds in Canberra, but you could be forgiven for thinking so if you are a regular reader of my blog.
Autumn is such a busy time for all birds in Canberra, so there are many photo opportunities, but the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo some how always manages to fly into scenes and photos..
Much ado about nothing..
So to educate myself about other birds, last spring I joined a group of people surveying the Gang-Gang Cockatoo, here in the National Botanical Gardens.
My first glimpse of a young Gang-Gang Cockatoo (male) at the National Botanical Gardens.
In Canberra we are lucky enough to have seven varieties of Cockatoos (who knew?) and this cute pair are the male and female Gang-Gang Cockatoo.
Photo by Julian Robinson Canberra Ornithologists Group
The adult male has a distinctive scarlet red head and crest, and the female has a dark grey head and chest..
The description of the Gang-Gang is that they are ”gregarious, but relatively quiet cockatoos” ..probably because they can’t get a word in edgeways, if the white Cockatoo is around!
Photo by Julian Robinson Canberra Ornithologists Group
They live in monogamous pairs and family groups can be seen together in summer. In some cases the young Gang-Gangs roost together in the same tree while the parents are foraging for food.
I had difficulty finding Gang-gang Cockatoos in the Botanical Gardens, but was told to listen for a sound like a squeaking door, and sure enough, when I listen for that sound, I looked up and saw, through flakes of bark drifting down on me, the red tuft of the male cockatoo……
A young male Gang-Gang cockatoo …
The Gang-Gang Cockatoo is the faunal emblem of the ACT and it is part of the logo of the Canberra Ornithologists Group and ACT Parks, Conservation and Lands department.
Perhaps as a result of the quiet nature of the Gang-Gang Cockatoo, I got very few photos that day,….so my thanks goes to Julian Robinson for his two lovely photos of the Gang-Gang male and female together….looking very endearing.
I’ll end with photo and text taken and written by Geoffrey Dabb, which featured in the Canberra Times some years ago…I hope you can read it.
Text and photo Geoffrey Dabb.
Did you hear who she’s been seeing lately?
Thanks to the Canberra Ornithologists Group for their interesting and informative website www.canberrabirds.org.au/.
