Mirror Mirror on the wall.... continued

Okay in the last blog entry we were talking about the Cockatoos, that is out of the broadly related parrot like birds. Next comes the Lorikeets, parrots, fig-parrots and Budgeriegars - all broadly clubbed together. There is a whooping 39 birds in this category. The distribution is good from some very very common like the Rainbow lorikeets to absolutely rare (discovered after being declared extinct) Night Parrot. This parrot was rediscovered in 2015 and the location is a carefully guarded secret lest it gets mobbed by men and others. By the way - just to put it in perspective once yet again - I am covering those birds only that I saw with my own eyes and photographed.

So I will first start with the common ones that I saw. Rainbow Lorikeet. An absolutely surest sight anywhere in the coastal Asuatralia - both the north, East and South. I took so many pictures of this bird - never the perfect one so please bear with me. Beauty with this bird knows no bounds so just hold your breath when you see the bird - it can take it away.

Yes - I did try and count all the colours

A pair at its nest. Birding courtesy Gavin Goodyear

Omnipresent - everywhere

Rainbow Lorikeet

The second fairly common bird that I saw - shy and not so shy all at the same moment in the entire range I visited expect the very far south - was this Scaly-breasted Lorikeet. I did see these birds a number of times - they were a different green with beautiful broken yellow pattern on the breast with bright red underwings. They were a good company to be in but I did see that they minded seeing a human - when I was clearly visible and took to wing only then. Otherwise they were there forging, comfortable - all for you to see. Infact the only good picture of this bird I saw was when a person was throwing some boiled rice - feeding them - as long as we were hidden behind the bush - they were fine - the moment I came in full sight there they went.

The beautiful Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Saw a fair amount of these birds - virtually everywhere in their range.

I did see a Double-eyed Fig-parrot - but since it was in captivity - kept in a habitat - I did not record it as a sighting but I would like to share the picture with you nonetheless. It was dark so don't mind the grainy picture. The bird was small and beautiful...

The smallest Australian parrot

Small on size - huge on beauty

Caution: they all are habitat shots of the Double-eyed Fig-parrot

Next was the Australian King-parrot I saw it many a times but mostly glimpses so not even a shot that I can say - a record shot. So after mentioning this I have to move on. A small description is warranted however. The bird was beautiful Red with green wings and a patch of blue on the rump of the male.

The Electus Parrot was another sight to behold. The Female (that one is more brightly coloured that the male) did not give an opportunity. I do have a shot - again in a habitat so I do not count it as proper - but for record here I thought I will share. The male however was cooperative for one shot so I will present it first.

The beautiful Female Electus Parrot (Habitat shot)

The male that lost the beauty pageant - Electus Parrot Male

This bird too gave only one shot before flying away But the close up was good

The bird is the Crimson Rosella. These are basically a group of blue-cheeked birds and again I had very good sightings around Cairns, Sydney and on my way to Twelve Apostles. Unfortunately - as it happens with birding in wild - the pictures always were in low light so ISO levels are ramped up - so pardon me for the shots. One more thing - this bird has in all seven races. I believe I might have seen only two out of them - but since two to three sightings were not in presence of a proper birding guide - I will let the case remain open.

Clicked in the rainforest with Mr Gavin Goodyear

Clicked near Cape Otaway I suppose on the way to Twelve Apostles

Crimson Rosella

I almost complained to all birders regarding the Eastern Rosella - I mean it was fairly common but just refused to come in open for a pose - the situation became so bad that I was resting in my room when a familiar bird flew overhead and landed in a bush about fifty feet away - I grabbed the camera ran - realised I was naked above the waist - ran back put on a T-shirt ran again - took a record shot and the bloody bird flew away - the onlookers were glaring at me - it was then I realised I put the T-shirt inside out - bloody Rosella !!

The hidden Eastern Rosella - Grrrrr 

The last bird I saw was the beautiful Red-rumped Parrot. I was taken for birding by Tom Tarrant - this was one of our last pit-stop before we returned and I packed up Australia birding. Was a great experience seeing this bird. I remember - we reached where Mr Tom said this bird would be there and we were disappointed seeing no birds at all. We started looking around for Common Bronzewing. That bird was calling from so near - but took a good hour to spot it. This was not before we almost gave up. In between we came back to the Parrot spot and - boom - there two pairs were foraging. They were soon joined by others and a sight it was. The pictures once again were not to my satisfaction - the ones showing rump did not show the face and vice versa. Again - beggars cannot be choosers... so here goes.

Okay - I did get one shot with its rump showing - the Red-rumped Parrot

Another shot of the beautiful parrot.

Seven Parrots out of the 39 in Australia and that too in the time I was there is okay I guess. Okay after spending a few days completing the part I and Part II of this writeup I am at a loss - as to which bird comes on top in beauty - so I leave this on to you to decide - Would you be kind enough to leave your choice as a comment to this ? It would be great. And surprisingly I did not see a single Budgerigar.

 Those who missed part I - here is the link Click Me