Birds Visit Us

Birds visit us because they
know we’re safe to live with;
pale headed rosellas drop
by to pay their dues in a dignified
flush of good manners drink
bobbing heads politely chatter
discretely rainbow lorikeets
invade in a scalding rush of rude
shrieks attitude and mad posturing
everything done at top speed
they depart the same way to crash
another party. Crows brown-headed
honey eaters figbirds currawongs
rainbow bee-eaters a crush of noisy
miners a family of magpies arriving
late to enliven proceedings. Gallery
of galahs kookaburras azure kingfisher
crested doves a crass covey of
cockatoos fly by arguing ten or
more as-yet-unidentified wrens
butcher birds red-browed
treecreeper grey shrike-thrush
two dollarbirds at a dollar each
and – did I mention a spangled
drongo? Flycatchers twirl above
the trees while up the back a
chorus of whipbirds whistle and
crack. This feast is happening
while our favourite noisy miner
is nesting in a shrub outside the
kitchen window with four chicks
to feed. We’d have missed all this
had we stayed in Sydney.
© I.D. Carswell