Australian Birds Cross-Post from Writing Blog: The Aussie Galah (Eolophus roseicapillus)

In addition to the sulphur-crested cockatoos, we had a flock of galahs come to enjoy the fruit on the backyard trees. It makes a change from seeing them grazing on grass seeds.

Of course, not everyone had the hang of landing.

Those trees can be tricky to perch on, don't ya know?

Even when you manage to get set down, there's still the delicate balancing act.

Before the serious business of feeding and grooming can be undertaken.

Australian Spiders Cross-Post: Orange-Legged Swift Spider (Supunna picta, family Corinnidae)

So, this 1-inch/3-centimetre long spider was sitting on my kitchen wall - probably trying to get out of the rain. It's not deadly, with a bite that can cause mild local pain, redness and swelling. I've also seen it called a 'bug-mimicking swift spider', 'wasp-mimicking spider', and 'tribal mask spider'.

Australian Birds Cross-Post: Australian White Ibis: Threskiornis molucca

It's amazing what comes wandering up to the back fence. These guys were quite happily foraging for insects until I started taking photographs, and then they became rapidly shy.

Australian Birds: Juvenile Crimson Rosellas (Platycercus elegans)

I went through a couple of months where the main birds that visited my backyard were crimson rosellas. This coincided with the trees fruiting, so I probably shouldn't be surprised. This pair hadn't yet exchanged their green 'baby' plumage for the more colourful red and blue of an adult, and probably wouldn't for another two years. I hope they stick around so I can see that. I had quite a hard time identifying them because of it. As you can see, the green is very handy for camouflaging them against the grass.

The first shot caught them unawares

and caused them a bit of concern, 

but they decided food was more important.

Definitely more important.

They kept eating, but they kept a very good eye on the camera. I stayed just inside my back door, and they tolerated me photographing them.

When they both bobbed down to collect more to eat, they became very hard to see.

They took one more very assessing look, and then they decided they'd had enough and flew away.

They've been back since, I'm glad to say.