Rainbow lorikeets were introduced to Perth some years ago and it was feared
that they would increase in numbers and displace the local parrots. Well,
they have increased dramatically in numbers. When we arrived in Perth, at
the airport, around 11pm we were astonished at the sound of the calls of
many birds; and they were the rainbow lorikeets. The lights are kept on
overnight at the airport. Why do the birds choose roost there, and how much
sleep do they get? Yesterday morning when we left, at 5am, still dark and
it had been raining buckets, lorikeets were calling loudly.
I was at Cottesloe beach just as it was getting dark, one evening. The
Norfolk Island pines are a favorite roosting site. The sound of the calls
was deafening. They also roosted in a flowering gum outside our window,
calling loudly first thing in the mornings. Between 7.30 and 7.45am they
would take off, not all in the same direction. The beautififul western
spinebill, brighter than the eastern, was seen there as well.
There are very many more live, green, some flowering, trees in Perth than
in Canberra. And the place is green, children playing weekend sport on
green grass.
But the swamps and lakes in the Metropolitan area have largely dried out
The land south of Perth is also green. It rains over there, really rains,
downpours.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth Compston
8 Wells Gardens
Griffith, ACT 2603
02 6295 3028
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