Fantastic you guys.  So glad he's all right.   Going south for a few days, and after that I might come out for a visit in a few weeks if that's OK.
Cheers,
xina.

-- Edited by xina on Tuesday 7th of April 2009 02:23:36 AM

Anytime Gayle, youre welcome

What a lovely story to read first thing this morning - much better than the morning's newspaper

What a lovely story to read first thing this morning - much better than the morning newspapers.

You are very honoured, and are being rewarded for you kindness. Just keep the mince up, and they'll be your friends forever. I saw the same out in central western Qld about 20 years ago. A pair of maggies, the male only had 1 eye. They'd come into the house for their feed. The cattle station owner used to mince up the offcuts when they killed a beast for maggie food. The Kookaburras came to the clothes line for their mince, but never came closer. Just magic. The Macca's album is called Symphony to Australian Birds. Pity Macca talks so much. The programme is a great medium for communication around the country, and now, around the world. Cheers Granny

yep the little bludgers are on the march here again as well, had 6 of them trying to "mooch" a meal out of me, all carrolling under the back entertainment area, just about deafened me, I chucked a couple of old chops out that we had in the fridge but i dont want to start fully feeding them again as we are off again shortly and dont want them starving while we are away dont mind them coming in and getting the dogs water but they must continue to feed themselves the little feller with the busted beak, how far back is the thing broke, you may be able to catch him and just "nip" the bottom section back with a nail file until it is lined up with the top, just be careful that there is plenty of beak left before the "separation" part in front of the neck, that way he could feed himself far more easier, we did this to a Murray magpie, who flew into a car and needed a little help a few years back and it came out well, he has forgiven me and got a mate and breeds in our eucalypt, raising three chicks ever year, which they proudly bring down and show to me before they take them somewhere else funny how they do that, they charge in to the back area, sing out and cut crook as if something is wrong, we go out to see what is going on and they have all their little blokes lined up on the clothesline, as if introducing us to them we are also getting more Murray magpies, white eyed honey eaters, tiny little finches and more Willy wag tails, no kookaburras they are all up in the ranges, had a group of fairy wrens start to take up residence (5 in total, 4 females and a beautifull male) but the cats just kept coming back until they got the lot,( I hate cats, or I should say I hate the people who own cats and then just let them wander around killing everything in sight) fig parrots are a constant and of course the doves, so we are allowed to live here amongst the birds and animals but only while we have their permission just had a hatching of bearded dragons, havent been able to see how many but at least 20, a heap of drop tails have taken over our fernery, (which is starting to come back) counted fifty and gave up, all ranging in size from 1" to close to 3", I keep a "rough area" over in a corner of the yard which I leave tottally alone, wood, branches, and just messy stuff, I add to it now and again just to keep it to a reasonable size, the lizards (bearded dragons, skinks and bluetongues as well as stumpys,) love it and breed in there twice a year, when I get a bit of time off (hah!! time off he says) I love to just sit and watch my little "nature rerserve" I planted a little habitat for them over twenty five years, pinched the flats across the road from of our place and turned that into a refuge as well, planted about 600 native trees out there, convinced the council that it is actually parklands, designated so by a previous mayor and they beleived it, and now it is paying off

Good on ya mate, if there were more people looking after the flora and fauna there wouldnt be any global warming Keep up the good work its interesting how the birds change the further north you go, travel up to the tablelands another 1000 ks and you get another mix, They are a lot like us in that they have their preference for hot , cool and cold climates, Havent been anywhere near Sydney City in a 100 years, wonder what they have, I have read of the reports of the Peregrine Falcon in Melbourne highrise, Any birdwatchers there ??

meant to add this,
Judys finally got a Kooaburra to feed from her hand, apparently this is a seasonal thing,previous residents have all done the same thing, so they know that come summer they are on there own, at least for a coupla months

sure are, we stayed at one of the high rise ones on a weekend getaway, cant remember which one it was but by hell it was a long way up, scared the bejesus out of me to look out the window, needed a thermos and a cut lunch in the lift on the way up, and baby wipes when I got there and looked down but anyway, on the window ledge this little peregrine had a young one and he was doing well, I could have watched them for hours, but mother wanted shoes or something, basically I was standing maybe 6 inches away from them coming and going, didn't bother them in the least, they were the only reason I could stand to look out, scared crapless of heights, but I put my finger up to the glass and the little feller would waddle over and touch the glass on the other side, glass thickness away, maybe 1/2", right opposite my finger, no glass and we would have been touching, there again no glass and I wouldn't have been there either good to see the little blokes alive and well in the city, far better to see them on the rock faces in the wild though but on hot days "my" stumpys come to me for a drink when I'm outside, I have a lower container for them set alongside the dog water, which is filled when I check the dogs container everyday, they love the dog food as well and it is not unusual for us to go out to feed the dogs at night and have half a dozen bludging lizards lined up as well all waiting their turn for a bit of tucker then they scuttle back to their little hidey holes or nick off back to the wild, just across the road, they come, they go, some stay some dont, little buggers only come in when it gets a bit tough "out there" I can hear them now "oohhh!! not much tucker about Jimbo, might go see unca Dave and get a bit of grub" the lady who looks after our place when we nick off, brings her friends (which I dont mind) and they all enjoy the little interaction with the animals, birds are always spoilt when get back home, everybody loves feeding them, takes a while for us to ween them off again people say we have a very tranquil setting and love visiting us, but we have done nothing here that cant be achieved anywhere in any suburban garden, just little sanctuary's for wildlife, it doesn't have to be about a pretty garden, a little disused messy corner is all it takes, just a thought for our natives and keep the cat inside or a cathouse, you'd be surprised what comes calling and takes up residence one thing though, they are guaranteed to bring a smile with them...............

Magpies in the ACT have become very agressive with signs directing pedestrians to "TAKE CARE - MAGPIES IN THIS AREA", bring back boys with air rifles.... Native parrots are lovely to watch but if they decide your house is a good spot they will destroy it, I scare the sulphur cresteds away but like the rosselas and other native boids, they all seem to congregate in the melaluca that overhangs my ornamental lily pond for a drink and a wash.
Psssssssst don't tell anyone but I have fixed up the pump so there is a little waterfall which is good feng shui and we need all the FS we can get to sell our place, you get lynched in Canberra these days if you have any obvious water around that cannot be explained. ornamental ponds bird baths etc are banned due to the drought.
As to Macca yep he talks too much and his show while trying to appear spontaneous is the most closely scripted show on Radio - try phoning in without an "appointment". Still an enjoyable broadcast just the same.

-- Edited by Basil Faulty on Wednesday 8th of April 2009 05:07:53 PM

Since the "garden" around the small block of flats that I live in has become my responsibility and the place actually looks as if someone cares, the increase in bird and lizard visitors has been the subject of appreciative comments from the other tenants as well as the owners and letting agents.

The big rewards, though, come from the animals themselves.

There's one young magpie who looks as if he might have BBQ'd his feet and fallen onto the right side of his face when quite small.
The sight has returned to the right eye but the feet are permanently disfigured and he has some difficulty standing.
His mates/family all help him when the food is a bit scarce and they nag me if I don't offer him something.
Working in the ground, disturbing the worms one day, I was startled by one of them landing on my shoulder, walking down my arm, grabbing one of the worms and taking it off to the disabled one, who looked as if he might have been having a bad day.

Unless I startle them they rarely take off when I'm about the place and they're feeding on the grubs and beetles in the lawn.

Rainbow Lorikeets, Galahs, doves, Singing Honeyeaters, New Holland and Whitefaced Honeyeaters, Red Wattle birds, Magpie Larks and Grey Butcher birds all fossick around the place with occasional visits by Kookaburras, flyovers by Shortbilled Black ****atoos (Boudin's), Little Corellas and mobs of Silver Gulls.

After nearly 5 years in Italy where nearly everything gets shot out of the sky before it has a chance to grow to maturity, it really is like a private paradise.

I've become quite successful at keeping the cats on their guard too. They tend not to hang about much, now that they've found that the small pieces of meat laced with chilli that I leave out for them are not to their taste, and that I'm quite accurate with my pebble throwing.

What wonderful stories! Thank you everyone. I have some great memories of the wildlife while in the Kimberleys and in Broome. Ta Ta Lizards, or Gilberts Dragons, and their quirky ways, the mistltoe birds, friar birds, blue tongue lizards procreating on my door step. honey eaters, too many to go on with. Here in Cairns a family of stone curlews keep me amused, and when they are nesting I get quite maternal, making sure nothing disturbs their hatching responsibilites. Ain't nature wonderful. And well done to everyone who has set up their gardens to attract and shelter these critters. Just a little bird bath or water source will do it. Well done and enjoy. Cheers Chris