this week is going to the birds!

As I pulled the car up this afternoon I could hear the raucous party...


...4 yellow-tailed black cockatoos were perched having a lovely picnic in my mature (and rather large) Banksia integrifolia...

Of course I rushed to quietly grab my camera and see if I could get a bit of a shot (my digital is a very simple affair - and not equiped with wonderful zoom...)

But it was great to download the pics and see that there was enough detail to check out their feeding habits... look at the stripped banksia cone!




Here's another of the foursome with a cone in its claws and a beak full of seed!



Yellow-tailed black cockatoo are not prolific in my area - but I usually see them a few times each year - in the past they have been attracted to a couple of old pine trees in a nearby paddock - and the allocasurina in the creek of course - this is the first time I have had them feasting in the yard

How great to see a long term plan pay dividends - I planted the integrifolia back in 1994 and crossed my fingers that some local creatures might find it nice... it's been a nice afternoon for both me and the cockatoos!