Bird Watching: Black swan and cygnets at local lake, 1 by MargaretK

MargaretK wrote:
Thanks Dell. It's such a pleasure to share. Our birdlife is so different but our passions are so similar. Australia has many colourful birds, particularly in the tropics. In the more temperate regions the birds tend to have mundane colouring, but make up for it in song. Australian magpies and butcherbirds have the most amazing melodic repertoire and several will join in an incomparable diapason.

We have cared for injured and orphaned birds for decades although we are cutting back in an attempt to regain some sort of life. Many, many wonderful stories. The bird in this image is a baby Port Lincoln Ringneck, also known as a "28" because of its call (I think the person who named it must have had a skin full as it beggars the imagination where he or she got "28" from). We had this little darling for two months before we released it, full of trepidation as to its chances of survival. It flew off strongly and came back the next day smelling strongly of eucalyptus. It stayed overnight and we re-released it the next day. Gradually its visits to us became less frequent and we didn't see it for several months, until one day it turned up with a mate. It was one of the most rewarding moments in my life.