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Hi Everyone,
My husband works at a Crematorium-Lawn Cemetery
which is situated between the Talbragar River, the Stock Saleyards and the
Sewage Treatment Works, so he sees a fair number and variety of birds in his
working day. Mostly he sees birds flying over, but takes note of those species
that come in to over-winter close to town, or that come in response to flowering
of the shrubs and trees in the cemetery.
He was surprised to hear, on the Monday after
Mother's Day, the distinctive calls of Blue-faced Honeyeaters. Later that day as
he was walking along a path, he heard the calls again and found a pair of the
honeyeaters feeding from the flowers in vases around a grave. There were many
more flowers in the cemetery than there usually are as Mothers' Day draws lots
of visitors.
The birds were perched on the vase rims, and
getting stuck into the (mostly exotic) flowers. Another flower (whose name I
have not been able to find) that looks like a miniature orange gladioli provided
a strong stem and the birds worked their way up the stem, dipping deeply into
each tubular flower.
The Blue-faced Honeyeaters were around most of that
week, till the flowers wilted or were removed, and have now departed. What super
opportunists!
Judie Peet
(The only thing certain about birdwatching is that
nothing's certain.)
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