Merry merry king of the bush

I was lying in bed a couple of mornings ago, and watching a Kookaburra at play in the branches of the tree outside our balcony door. It flew from the branch to a tree stump nearby, alternating between the two in its own private game. ( I got a photo of him - will post it soon). I later noticed many kookaburras around, and I don't see them so often. Not as often as I see the Corellas.

I like to think a Kookaburra helped me find Kokola our Corella when he flew away and got lost. I had asked Kokola's guardian angel to bring him back safely, when I noticed the Kookaburra sitting on our boundary fence nearby. I mentally asked him to find Kokola & show him the way back. Early the next morning, I woke up thinking I heard Kokola call. You might wonder how I could distinguish Kokola's Corella call from the hundreds (thousands?) of Corellas out there. I just know his voice... proven by the many times I found him when he was lost in the wild.

I went out in my pyjamas, calling "Kokola!" I heard him answer me from far away. I called again, trying to pinpoint his direction. Kurt and I and the dogs set off to the next paddock and found him sitting on the fence at the far end of the property, trembling and happy to come home with us. He hadn't been there the day before, because I'd scoured every inch of our property and our neighbours', calling for him repeatedly. Somehow, he'd found his way back. As we carried him back to the house, I looked up to see the Kookaburra sitting on the fence looking gravely at us before it flew off. Thank you, I mentally called out.

Corella party on the road

I was driving to Castlemaine for a dental appointment this afternoon, along a beautiful country lane, soaking up the autumn sunshine, and listening to Eckhart Tolle on my car radio via my ipod (had to throw that in, didn't I), when I spotted a flock of Corellas by the roadside, the crowd spilling over to the road. It's common to see them on the pastures, snacking on the grasses, but on the road? I slowed down as I approached them, thinking they'd fly away, but they stayed. I drove right up to them, and stopped the car. I'd have to run them over if I kept driving.

So gorgeous! They just looked at me and I looked at them. Maybe they could sense my Corella-lover energy; maybe our Kokola the Corella at home had told them about us (well, there's all that squawking and yelling at dusk from Kokola to his Corella friends). My delight was shortlived, as a car soon came from the opposite direction and interrupted our mutual gazing; the other car had to come to a stop too, and then the Corellas flew off, in a flutter of white. But they didn't go far, stopping on the other side of the road this time.

Tutti actually talked to me today - not in words. He saw me bring in Kokola's seed container to refill in the pantry, and he cheeped and cheeped in his gorgeous trilling cheep. I thought he wanted to be taken to visit Pepi. He looked at me & climbed up to his seed container, took a seed & dropped it back, then looked at me. Ah! Sorry Tutti, I have not yet refreshed your seeds today. I took the container & went into the pantry, and Tutti flew to my shoulder to supervise. Once I'd put the seed container and water container back into the cage, Tutti promptly climbed up to his food & started eating, eating, eating hungrily. I was suprised, he'd never so directly communicated to me before! I then went upstairs to bring the vacuum cleaner down, and he cheeped and cheeped anxiously at me, as if to ask me not to go away while he was eating. He stopped cheeping when I came downstairs again with the vacuum cleaner, and didn't mind at all that I started vacuuming round his cage, as he was too busy enjoying his food.

playtime with Kokola

It's past midnight now. Played with Kokola for awhile just now - when I sit on the chair beside his cage, he comes out & says "Hello Kokola", "Go to bed!" many times until I give him a cashew nut. He climbs onto my arm then steps onto the arm of the chair. He waves to me, saying Hello in his imitation of my voice. Climbs onto my lap, then onto the other arm of the chair. Then back onto my lap, begs for another cashew. Back & forth, from the left arm of the chair to the other arm of the chair, using my lap as the bridge.

He's a little scared of the little new bell. I tied the bell onto an elastic string. Kokola is having none of it now - just ululating and shrieking jumbled words, and making me laugh. He's such a comic. Leo & Wilson slept through the racket.

Kokola with a muddy beak and looking coy (photo)

Tutti helps to bake; Kokola's bell

A bit haphazardly I started to bake a sticky fruit pudding today. I kept thinking of Anthony Bourdain's emphasising the concept of mise en place - having one's head together, all organised, all ingredients ready, stocked.. you get the drift. I demonstrated the opposite - last minute rushes trying to find ingredients, dropping the blender on the floor, realising I didn't have any nutmeg although i was sure it was there last time. Anyway the lovely aroma emanating from the oven now makes it all OK.

Tutti flew to the kitchen bench to check out my chopping the dates, raisins and figs. He was very polite as usual, just hovering around hopefully but never presuming to step onto the chopping board and help himself. I gave him a little piece of date and he gratefully ate it. Finished, he looked up, asking with his eyes if he could have more. He got a little piece of fig. Loved it too.

I've figured how to get Tutti to fly to my shoulder every time I call. He doesn't respond to Come here Tutti. But soon as I say "Want to see Pepi?" - instantly he flies to my shoulder. Pepi the budgie is outside the front door in the porch enclosure. I don't take Tutti to go see Pepi everytime he flies to my shoulder, but I do it often enough to keep him responsive!

Kokola was hysterical today. I gave him a little round bell which I stuck to the inside of his cage. He loved playing with it, but he made short work of the fixture each time & the bell would fall to the floor of the cage. So I left the bell on top of his cage. Kurt came along & played with the bell and Kokola got real excited, screeching, hanging upside down and all his words rolled into one long muddled sound - kokola-kokola-hello-go-to-bed-go-to-bed.., throwing the bell off the cage top to Kurt, then Kurt throwing it back to the cage top, and Kokola screeching & throwing the bell off. It was hilarious to watch. I'd never heard him at this decibel!

tutti likes his lamps salty! 

tutti stands tall (photo)

pepi is snug and safe (photo)

me and bluey (photo)

wild life rescue

Our friends in the local area, Ron and June, run a voluntary wild life shelter. June seems to be always nursing some baby kangaroo, having to feed every 4 hours (yes it means very little sleep!) They own several little dogs too, and look after emus, wallabies, kangaroos, corellas, cockatiels, cockatoos, and any other animal who needs fostering! And June has another job she works at, making up the lovely natural potions and lotions at Lavandula the Lavender Farm. Not only that, her home is always absolutely spotless, and Ron's enclosures and paddocks are incredibly well kept. At the moment, little Pixie the baby kangaroo lives indoors with them. She has the most gorgeous eyes and the cutest face, and she hops around following June everywhere.

Last weekend, when we were away exhibiting in Sydney for the Yoga Expo, Ron came to feed the feathered menagerie for us. He's amazing with birds. His latest project is a Corella (so sweet!) who broke its leg in a car accident, and Gorgeous the Cockatoo who was very ill, rundown and dirty when Ron found it. Seemed so tame that we all thought it must have escaped from a domestic situation, but gave Ron a nasty bite when it was being bathed. All was forgiven, as Gorgeous must have been so scared.. never had a bath in his life!

living in nature

We live in beautiful nature. At dawn and dusk, flocks of white Corellas and Cockatoos and pink Galahs (aka rose breasted cockatoos) frolic in the trees, and graze on the paddocks. You can see a sea of white all over the paddocks and in the trees.

We enjoyed a "sea change" (more likely a "mountain change") a couple of years ago, moving from Melbourne to the Central Highlands' mineral springs area. We found a 10 acre block surrounded mostly by farmland and close to Hepburn Springs and Daylesford, favourite tourist retreats for day spas, art galleries, cafes and nature, and built a mudbrick home from which we enjoy our menagerie and our business www.pinksalt.com and our views.

Sometimes we're lucky to spot flocks of black cockatoos, rare sightings and so dramatic in appearance. I see them as special messengers of awe and great things to come. Other times, little birds find their way into the enclosure where Kokola the Corella & Pepi the budgie and Leo & Wilson sleep. They are easily caught in the hand, so light they weigh almost nothing, and off they flit into the sky when released. Sometimes they're not so lucky, these little birds fly into our large glass window panes.

One day, I heard a thud on the window. I thought Kurt outside had rapped hard on the window. I looked around but saw no one, and realised it might be a bird. I ran to the window, looked down on the ground, and this little colourful lorikeet was just picking itself up from the ground, rolling to its feet groggily. It just stood there, stunned. I crept outside with my gloves and a towel, in case it needed rescue. I crept right up to the little bird, and knelt next to it silently. It saw me but didn't move. It jumped when a fly flew past. 10 minutes passed, and still it stood silently knowing I was beside it. Finally he flitted off to the nearest large tree, and its friends greeted it effusively. A few flew down towards the front garden where I stood, as if to chat to me about their friend.

meet the bird family

Kokola is the loudest. He's from the cockatoo family, called a Corella. aka bare-eyed cockatoo, and specifically he's a slender-billed corella (with a long upper bill). He's all white, with orange undersides to his feathers around the head. his bare skin around the eyes are blue. In spite of his long beak & racuous voice, he's the gentlest coward. Loves hugs & cuddles, and will say Hello Kokola! Go to Bed! in any combination just to get his favourite treat, cashew nuts. He can do a "high five" or shake hands or wave. He's from the wild. My husband found him with a broken wing when he was a young bird, and the vet said he'd never fly again. Well he's proved the vet wrong a few times, when he flew off in a fright about something, and got lost in the wild for days. Each time we found him again, hungry and thirsty, happy to be found. Now he lives in an enclosed space with the dogs and Pepi.

Pepi is the little green budgie. He's a sweetie, and I originally gave him to my mum & dad, but mum realised she was allergic to the feather dust after a couple of years, so he came back to us. You can tell what household he came from - he says Praise the Lord, and Hallelujah. Since he joined us, he's started to say "Whatcha doing!?" and he learnt lots of new phrases from Chojo our other budgie who died a few months ago, and is always missed --considering that the vet was going to put Chojo down 2 years ago, and he recovered to live another 2 happy healthy years is a great blessing to us already.

Chojo could say:

hello chojo
how's my little baby?
Chojo Boy
Come and kiss me
Cutie pie
mmm Gorgeous
special baby
What're you doing
Chojo loves mummy
mummy loves Chojo
(variation on above - mummy loves mummy; chojo loves chojo)
Naughty Leo [our Italian sheepdog]
Leo's a naughty boy
Wilson! Come here! [our other Italian sheepdog]
I love you- do you love me ?
Kokola
little brat !
mummy go to bed
mummy slow down
I love you Kurtie daddy
yummy yummy
excuse me, what did you say?

Tutti is our lutino cockatiel, very feisty yet very sweet and tame. He is the latest addition to the family. He joined us about March 2004 as a little baby. For some reason he doesn't talk, unlike our other birds. Maybe he bonded with the budgies early on and never really bonded with us humans, though he spends lots of time with us. He showers with my husband, meditates with me, reads with me, works in the office with me, and always wants to eat with us. He's all yellow, with 2 round orange spots on his "cheeks", looking like he didn't blend his blusher properly.

Fifi, Lulu, Mimi, Tutu are the 4 geese. There were 5, but when Leo our Italian sheepdog was recuperating from a knee operation and not doing his watchdog duties, the fox got one of the geese. It was very sad because it was the tamest one of the geese who always wanted human company.

Leo & Wilson are not birds, but they know their birds. They are Italian sheepdogs called Maremmas, and are white and long-furred and big. But size doesn't prevent them being scared of Kokola's wildly unbalanced flights around the enclosure, and when Kokola does occasionally take fright & fly, the dogs are ready to take flight too, because Kokola is known to land on one of them and dig its claws in for security! When Chojo the budgie was alive, he used to like sitting on Leo, as he knew Leo from when Leo was a tiny puppy. But Leo is scared of Tutti the cockatiel. He flees when Tutti comes near. So much for Leo's 50kg size against Tutti's 88g! Wilson, the other Maremma dog, is neutral about the birds.