Birds and the Boys

The boys are really getting into this whole bird watching thing. Coop carries not one, but two pairs of binoculars with him when we are out in case we spy a new kind of bird.  The other night we were walking home from dinner and Coop saw what he thought were bats flying around.  We stopped, he pulled out his binoculars (and a pair for Tuck) and tried to catch a glimpse of them. Unfortunately, it was too dark and the city lights were too bright to see anything, but the sight of the two boys looking through their binoculars was worth it all!

We were in the park today playing with the dogs and digging in the dirt when we heard a commotion in the trees.  We looked up and saw a group of birds fly overhead.  All of the sudden Coop shouted, "Mom! It's kookaburra!" And, indeed it was!  We watched that kookaburra for quite some time and Cooper made kookaburra calls at it.  The boys also sang the Kookaburra Song to the bird. It was sweet. I was amazed that the bird put up with all the noise the boys were making, but he had no plans on moving at all.  

We went down to Tumbalong Park this morning and were treated to some other bird sightings.  We saw these Rainbow Lorikeets.  Man, they are gorgeous! I love how they mate for life and are always with their partner. They seem to do a dance as they fly from one place to another- always aware of where the other one is and what s/he is doing.   At one point, these Lorikeets were on top of the fence post and we got a really good look at them.  Tucker loved them too!  

Cooper noticed this guy.  We were walking by and I saw this bird lying very, very still. I thought to myself, "I hope Coop does not notice it because I think it might be dead!" But, of course he saw it and, thankfully, it lifted its head just as he did.  It turned out to be a chick and it was still a wobbly little fellow. Coop was mesmerised.  It was pretty cute for a pretty ugly bird. :)

baby Australian White Ibis