Australian Birds - Cockatoo and Lorikeet

It's spring in Canberra. The cherry blossoms have bloomed, and the plum blossoms are in full swing, but it's also windy and cold, despite the sun. These guys come for seed, and to forage in the garden.

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo:

Crimson Lorikeet (aka Scarlet Rosella, Crimson Rosella, Scarlet Lorikeet):

Daily Photograph - July 1, 2015: Cold Crimson Rosellas

It was officially 0.2 degrees Celsius when I took these shots at 9:45 this morning. These little guys and gals have been coming to the garden for a few weeks now, and they've finally settled down enough to let me within 10 metres. Today, they looked more than a little cold.

Daily Photograph, April 14, 2015 - Crimson Rosella (aka Crimson Lorikeet)

And here is a photograph from yesterday, taken during a sunny patch:

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.

Australian Birds: Adult Crimson Rosellas (Platycercus elegans)

You've seen the juvenile. Now, take a look at these, and you'll understand why I had so much trouble trying to work out if it was the same bird or not. This is the adult. Apparently, it takes around two years for the juveniles to lose their greenish tinge and wear this red-and-blue coat.

The ones around my house are shy and pretty uncooperative.

If the tree hadn't had so much fruit on it, I doubt he would have stuck around,

but he took a good look at the camera,

and decided the search for food was more important.

Some of those berries can be downright hard to reach,

but well worth the effort.