Birds have always been part of my life.
My love of them is something I shared with both my mother and my sister, and many of my memories of Mum have birds woven through them.
She talked to them, just as I do.
There was a pair of Butcherbirds who returned year after year, bringing each season’s babies with them. I can still hear their beautiful serenading song in my mind as they sat perched on her back steps.
There were Magpies that would follow Mum through the back door and into the house, wild ducks that chased her up the driveway, and Kookaburras she would feed from the old Hills Hoist clothesline.
That connection continued later when Mum and Dad came to live with us and we shared a home on small acreage.
We would put feed out and sometimes there seemed to be birds everywhere — Galahs, Lorikeets, King Parrots, ducks and more.
At times we would have as many as 24 King Parrots visit at once. On rainy days we’d find them sheltering under our covered outdoor area, and some became so comfortable around us that they would even eat from our hands.
So when I say birds have always been part of my life, I really do mean it.
Surrounded by Birdlife
Here at Earth Rhythms, that continues.
What feels different isn’t my love of birds or the way I interact with them.
It’s the abundance.
With the gum grove, open grass, gardens and wilder spaces around the property, birds seem to surround our everyday life.
I don’t even have to step outside the house to encounter them.
From the bathroom window I can see birds amongst the Wattle in the front garden. From the lounge room, I watch them feeding across the back lawn.
The hallway window has become one of my favourite places to pause for a few minutes and simply see who’s around. From there, I can often watch the early morning bathing ritual of a pair of Eastern Rosellas in the large water bowl.
The Magpies wander right up to the back steps, fossicking and digging through the garden beside the deck.
We regularly disturb the Noisy Miners simply by walking out the front door, as they spend so much time amongst the Red Flowering Quinces growing either side of the entrance. Around the back, they’ll also search through the Lemon tree and others nearby for nectar and spider webs.
And from our bedroom, King Parrots and Rosellas can often be spotted sitting in the tree just beyond the deck.
The birds aren’t something I have to go looking for here. They’re simply part of the day.
From Visitors to Residents
The Crimson Rosellas have perhaps made this difference most obvious to me.
At our previous home here on the Highlands, they were visitors — beautiful flashes of crimson and blue that would appear and then move on.
Here, they’re residents.
There are usually at least six somewhere around the property throughout the day, alongside the Eastern Rosellas, Magpies, Butcherbirds and Noisy Miners.
And slowly, there seems to be a little less distance between us.
As the months pass, the birds appear increasingly comfortable carrying on with whatever they’re doing while Rod and I work nearby in the gardens. The Magpies continue fossicking, the Rosellas don’t always immediately fly away, and we’re able to move around without everyone deciding it’s time to leave.
Perhaps they’re getting used to us too.
After all, we’re the newcomers here.
More Time to Notice
Living at a slower pace hasn’t created my love of birds. That’s always been there.
What it has given me is more time to enjoy them.
Time to stand at the hallway window and watch the Rosellas bathe.
To notice a Magpie working its way across the lawn.
To stop when I hear a familiar call.
To talk to whoever happens to be keeping me company while I’m outside.
They’re small moments, but they’re becoming part of the rhythm of living here.
And sometimes, when I find myself talking to one of the birds, I think of Mum and all those conversations she had with hers.
The Butcherbirds bringing their babies to meet her.
The Magpies following her inside.
The ducks chasing her up the driveway.
The Kookaburras waiting at the Hills Hoist.
I understand it.
I’ve always understood it.
And I think she would have loved the birdlife here too.
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