Bird politics

One thing that’s always fascinated me about living in the Centre is the apparent unpredictability of natural events and living things. There are seasonal events, such as the march of processional caterpillars a the end of summer, but they not necessarily reliable indicators of change.

Wet weather seems to throw everything off, but then again, not in predictable ways. One rainy winter there was a plague of mysterious black and white caterpillars that seemed to be feeding off a particular wattle, but also invaded human abodes (including ours). There seemed to be millions of them.

That was 25 years ago and I’ve not seen them since.

This year just about every plant you can imagine has appeared — not all of them appreciated — with the show enhanced by some spectacular flowerings, most notably melaleucas, which have been ablaze in amazing outbursts of white and cream all over town in the last few weeks

But what’s happening with the birds? I confirmed my suspicion with local bird lover and artist Iain Campbell that the big flocks of galahs, normally a common site around the north side where I live, seem to have gone elsewhere. Are they in another part of town, or have they simply gone bush?

Meanwhile there don’t seem to be too many feral doves in our neighbourhood, but there has been a definite peewee invasion, and I’m not sure I like them.

Ringnecks or Port Lincoln Parrots are always welcome, however, and they seem to be lustrous and musical than ever this year. Galahs have a reputation for being the most comical parrots, but ringnecks have an entertaining mixture of grace and clumsiness about them. I’ve stitched together a little tribute, filmed entirely from our front yard.