It’s been a beautiful spring in the Longprong garden and the birds have been propagating. I thought you might be interested in two of my favourite birds and perhaps seeing I’ve shown you mine, you might show me yours.
This fella is the male Common Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea). He is sometimes called the Cooee or Rain Bird. He is a large cuckoo The female lays her eggs in another bird’s nest, and lets them raise the kiddie, which is a great arrangement and allows them to get on with life, eating and having fun. They are a migrant to eastern Australia from PNG/Indonesia where they usually winter. They have a distinctive call which heralds the wet part of spring and the approaching spin-off from the northern monsoon which reaches down to the southern part of NSW in summer. When I hear their first call in Spring I plant my tomatoes.
He has a blood red eye and looks a bit evil. He loves my strawberries and tomatoes, but I don’t really mind so much, as he has to earn his living too. I just pick them a bit before completely ripe, as he is very fussy on ripeness.