Red Wattlebird

Anxious for John to come home from work one day, I sat on our veranda to wait, and as luck would have it, a Red Wattlebird landed on a branch in the yard.

The red wattlebird is a large (up to 35 cm) grey-brown honeyeater with red eyes, distinctive red wattles either side of the neck and white streaks on the chest and belly, which reveals a bright yellow patch towards the tail.

Now I LOVE Australian birds. A visit to our yard is a treat.

Then a few more came. It turned into a little squabble.

As you can see, my husband spared no expense in the purchase of a bird bath, a $2 piece of plastic on a pile of bricks.

Roosters have wattles so maybe I am not so far off when I tell John as they make noises outside our window in the early morning that they sound like strangled chickens.

Loved this shot with the Wattlebird flying in.

Now there was a group and they didn’t seem totally happy to share the bird bath.

Getting a bit more animated here.

Finally it gets very heated.

They soon sorted it all out and flew away, but I was thankful they hung around long enough to get some photos and to watch them at the bird bath.