Sitting quietly on my front porch
enjoying the expanse of lawn and garden
in front of me
and the river in this part having
nature surrounds leaving suburbia hidden from view,
that is if one ignores the freeway up and over to the right.

I am amazed at the birds that come to visit.
mudlarks scanning the grass for an insect,
two with white beaks must be the parents,
while the one with dark beak and fluffing its feathers
while sounding its own little repetitive verse
for attention, must be their baby.
It stops to preen itself while parent bird
wanders away to far corner of lawn, the
other having flown over the hedge.
Flitting to and fro are the honey-eaters with
their distinctive tweet, they snap their beaks at insects,
they have a taste for the tiny berries on
the potted miniature umbrella tree.
They seem to have bred up in number
in ideal environment of shrubs where they
can build their purse-like nests in concealment of
bunched hibiscus, bottlebrush, lantana and conifers.

Sometimes the magpies come looking for
an early morning crumb or a last snack before dusk,
being very friendly all the birds come quite close.
A short time back even a young kookaburra
ventured in to sit on the wrought iron balustrade
as though wondering what the other feathered friends
were finding to peck at.
Just a few unappetising crumbs, not enough to
tempt this feathered character, until a few small morsels
of meat are dropped onto the porch floor.
Taking time to eye the treat before plopping
ungraciously to eat its prize, the kookaburra
returns to the balustrade, where I decide to leave it,
as I retreat indoors, thinking to myself it must be young
though it does have the blue spot of maturity in its
brownish wing.

Mainly at dawn I hear the kookaburras laugh from over
the river and in the large gums on this bank. It sounds
like three families. I have spied one flying about here
but only to see it chased away by a small bird
guarding its territory.
I suspect it’s our visiting kookaburra.

11/19/2002

Posted on 11/19/2002
Copyright © 2024 Audrey M Scott