At about 2 p.m., as Jeanne was descending the stairs from our room, she spotted this bird in our emerald tree. Most of the seed pods on the tree had already been either opened by other species of birds that eat them, or had simply matured, dried out and split open.
Fortunately for both the parrot and us, there were enough unopened pods still available that the bird was able to make a very hearty meal from our tree while Jeanne delighted in its antics and I happily 'clicked' away beside her.
Here is my record of its short visit with us.
This is the tree it was in.
The seed pods. Easy to see why it is sometimes called the serpent tree.
Empty, dried out pods...look like shed snakeskins.
There it is...
Because I was only one step down from the top of the stairs to our room, I was in place to get some good pictures of it from its own level. These turned out pretty well for having been taken at an angle through the window glass.
What a bird, huh?
Are you curious about what sort of seeds he's eating? It's hard to tell positively from the photos. I wanted a better look and so opened one up. It was a surprise. (But it explained the picture just above.)
I had imagined that they might look something like bean seeds but I couldn't have been more mistaken. Here is a photo of one I opened up on our kitchen table. -djf
BTW, today's visitor reminds me that 'Talk like a Pirate Day' is coming up. September 19th is the date.
What a gorgeous bird! You are so lucky to have him come to lunch at your house. With him in that vibrant green emerald tree it's hard to believe you're at the beginning of winter. I hope you have many more visits from this fellow and bright colorful days.
ReplyDeleteWe have seen a flock of four come by every once in a while and I've been able to take a few pictures before, but this one was closer and stayed longer.
ReplyDeleteWe've had three nights of frost so far this fall/winter. We'll see what the rest of the season dishes out.