Birds & Wildlife

Wild Turkey also called Australian Bush Turkey, young chic. They are plentiful even in Suburban gardens in Sydney. This young chic greeted me at my front door one morning. I provided it with some clean drinking water and a titbit of food. It spent the next two weeks in my garden eating up all the slugs and snails which were plentiful in Spring due to the rains. It slept on the branch of a shrub each night. The mother turkey only cares for the young chicks for a couple of weeks and then they have to fend for themselves - a harsh life! The adult turkeys can be a nuisance as they scratch up one's flower beds and scatter soil and mulch everywhere.

Australian Eastern Water Dragon, young male. How do I know its a male? During mating season the males display red chests, as seen here. The adult Dragon reaches 85cm length. This one is about 40cm. They look fierce but are in fact friendly and curious creatures. This juvenile male has climbed up to my kitchen window ledge to peer at me while I work in the kitchen. Occasionally I give him a bit of food if I think he is hungry. Otherwise these Dragons catch all the cockroaches and pesky insects in the garden. My own personal pest controller.

Australian native bird, Magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen. It is not related to the European Magpie. Magpies are one of the most intelligent bird species. They use their foot to hold food while they peck at it. A beak as sharp as a needle with which it digs up worms in the soil or rip open fruit. Magpies live and breeds in pairs within a larger flock. I encourage them into my garden with titbits of food as they dig up the white lawn eating grubs.