Thieves!

We were away for two days and came back to this!

My lovely Apricot crop. From my single tree.

The red wattle birds are constantly barking and calling to each other up the back where the tree is and if there is an upside it is that they are cleaning up the fruit on the ground quite nicely.

I went out and picked all of the remaining low lying  fruit. Less than 20 pieces, In this case the birds got over 90%. I think I have enough almost ripe fruit for a jar of jam which is what I really, really wanted to make with this fruit. Lesson learned. Next year we will net.

Red Wattle Bird

These are our most prolific visitors at this point in time :)

Read Wattle Bird

I was on the ground trying to take pics of the lavender and this bird didn't see me when it first came down :)

I had a good position and line of sight from my shrubbery to get some shots with full zoom. 

Red Wattle Bird

What a Ruckus

The red  wattle birds seem to be moving in pairs now.

This particular evening there were two immediately above our front door, feeding here and territorially barking at some crimson Rosellas hanging around.

Head On

Sometimes when I photograph the birds they happily go about their business unperturbed.

Other times they arrive and were not expecting to see me, I have interrupted their plans and they warily watch me weighing up if I am a danger to them or not.

Red Wattle Bird headed for the bird bath

Silver eye playing in early evening light.

Red Wattle Bird

Typically quick, nervous and flighty when they spot me I felt lucky to also get these shots of a foraging bird on Saturday. Perhaps I should head down the driveway more often : )

The name refers to the fleshy red wattle on the side of the neck. In this particular bird they are very small but grow bigger and get 'dangle-y' 

 

The curled leaf you see hanging in a web above his beak in the next shot must have contained a spider; as in the blink of an eye he stuck his long beak in there and when the leaf fell he was swinging down the tree to catch it quick as a flash! 

Red Wattle birds are the second most common visitors to our bird bath for a drink.