Our special bird is back

A lot has happened this weekend _ I have been out with the camera once again, but all that has paled into the background with the joyful arrival of our very special bird this morning.

f /9  1/13  ISO800

Before we went off on our four wheel drive trip Twisty was an intermittent visitor but when we came back home she had not returned with the other birds.
It took two full days of putting out food before the lorikeets rediscovered we were really "back". on the first morning we had two birds come and feed and the next day there were a couple more but on day three the message was out and the crowd returned! But not Twisty.
Neither Colin nor I mentioned this for a while but eventually we sadly mentioned that since so many years had gone by that just maybe we had seen the last of our feathered friend.
This morning, 24 days after our return, as I was pouring out the seeds into the dish, a lorikeet almost flew into me and sat on the rail beside me. I just assumed that the bird had become so accustomed to my ritual that it was no longer fearful of me. Then Colin stepped outside carrying his breakfast cereal to put on the table and a lorikeet flew over to him and landed on his arm. There was no mistaking the message! "I'm back!" It was our favoured bird. (And "favourite"!)
Straight away Colin rushed inside and found the tiny dish we use for Twisty and put in some dry raw sugar. Talk about happiness! If a lorikeet could only purr this bird was purring!
Of course the camera came out (as it always does!) but the head bobbing in and out of the dish at breakneck speed meant that I had to take several shots to get one! Hurray for digital cameras!
After clearing the table after our breakfast I took my camera to the corner of the veranda where I have several plants plus a new one I picked up on Sunday at a flower show. It was a Rose Show and I bought a Hydrangea! A brilliant deep pink one, so I wanted to take a shot of the flowers, the sun had peeped out and they looked so lovely. I bent down to pull the plant forward so that the background was only greenery, not other flowers, and as I did so three other lorikeets flew into the plants only inches away from me and perched there watching what I was doing. The birds have never behaved like this before, they have even waited until I filled their feed dish before flying down. I raised the camera to record this unusual moment and Twisty Beak squawked in jealousy and flew at the other brave birds and chased them away! So I went back to the table and took another of Twisty! How vain! Now I know Twisty is a female!

f/9  1/100 ISO800

Soon after taking this shot there was a lorikeet alarm squawk and every lorikeet in the trees, the ground below the feed dish and Twisty on the table all took flight simultaneously and disappeared into the distance.
Now it is raining. The sun has gone and it is pouring down.
AJ