When Vika and I got back from our walk this morning,  our regular pair of lorikeets waited in the gum-tree. I chatted to them for a few minutes, while Vika looked around, trying to work out who I was talking to. I held her up and tried to get her to follow my finger – she is usually very good at seeing things when I point and say look – but not today, despite the squawks and weird noises coming from up in the tree.

A short while later, I had barely sprinkled the seed when the first swooped down to the fence about a metre and a half (or five feet) from me. The second one landed fairly quickly, but hung back.

They have  a peculiar hopping motion. They thrust their head forward as they skip along. This third photo shows the shy bird hopping lower on the concrete platypuses. (see featured image, at the top of this post)

It wriggled around behind the eating lorikeet, who made room… just. I don’t know which one is female, or if one is female. I even looked at their eyes (you can sex galahs by their eyes) but the eyes on these two looked the same, despite the images turning me into a liar.I moved the camera  a little closer and the shy one flew off. The other flicked his wings a few times to regain his balance, revealing amazing colouring!

When I got tired of taking photos I tried an even closer shot – but that was too much for the bolder lorikeet, transforming into a flying kaleidoscope of colour.  This small annoyance is the price they pay for their seed.

(Nokia Lumia 530 Windows Phone, on auto. Images cropped and reduced)

Have a wonderful day.   😀