Feathered filcher

I glanced across from the back veranda and saw this feathered filcher sitting beneath an apricot tree – what a rascal.

It saw me watching and quietly hid behind the tree trunk…

before peeking out at me from the other side of the tree. It was so comical!

A few moments later it flew into the tree to hunt for more apricots, raising its crest as it landed.

Every so often this Sulphur-crested Cockatoo would look at me, not at all concerned. They have sturdy little tongues that they use to move their food around, and taste buds at the back of their tongue, which is moist.

This cockie spent time seemingly playing with the apricot stones, making indentations in them with its strong bill. As it moved through the tree it broke off many smaller branches and dropped them to the ground once it had finished with the apricots.

I usually see flocks of cockies rather than one at a time but this one looks healthy so hopefully all is well.

Parrots are mainly left-footed, and their feet are extraordinary. They use their feet for grasping rather than touch as their sense of touch is best using their bills and tongues.

Its remarkable foot shows up well in the photograph above, and it also looks as though its waving a casual goodbye. Which is very fitting as right then it flew away with a loud and happy screech and a raised crest.

It’s been a crazy week so my apologies to anyone whose email I haven’t answered. Last week my knee was bitten by a spider, the fang marks are 6-7mm apart so it was a pretty big specimen. I wasn’t worried initially but the site became more angry and swollen every day. The doctor prescribed an ointment and it’s heaps better now. I happily put cream on it one morning before turning and going flying over one of my Golden Retrievers. She was okay but I was a bit battered and I’d cut my head on the edge of the kitchen cabinet. To add to this comedy of errors my nursing friend thought someone should check that it didn’t need stitches. The eldest of my lovely daughters raced round to check it for me. Luckily I set up outside and we both wore masks as a few hours later she called to say she’d suddenly started feeling unwell and had tested positive on a Rapid Antigen Test. These aren’t free in Australia as I know they are in many parts of the world, from Manchester to Mexico City. I’m not officially a close-contact as I don’t meet the criteria but I’ve done a RAT, thankfully negative, and will do another in a few days, and will stay isolated. My daughter is improving and so far the rest of her family don’t seem to have caught it. Hopefully it’s the milder variant and luckily we are all double, but not triple, vaxxed. Things can change crazily quickly can’t they? Including my apricot tree which went from laden with delicious fruit to totally denuded, with the ground beneath it carpeted with leafy twigs and indented apricot stones.

Stay safe, happy birding, Kim

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