Yep, Mekaisto's got the right of it! The little things that crop up to surprise you: the day I nearly fell on top of a Pale Headed Rosella in the park; the time I heard a raspy, raucous noise just overhead to find a group of Gang Gangs gorging themselves on gumnuts.
Speakin' of parks, I have a nice story to relate. Near home, we have a rather large and spreading tree-filled park whose main feature is a formal rose garden that looks onto the main road. It's very popular for weddings and wedding photos, as well as football, cricket and rugby league. The wider park has play equipment and free solar-fuelled barbecues for the public to enjoy. Of course, this park is popular and nearly always crowded.
One thing I've loved about Jesmond Park (that's what it's called) is the interesting variety of birds to be seen there. Lots of parrots from the SC2s and Corellas right down to the little Grass Parrots are there in numbers every day. I've even seen a Crested Hawk (unromantically renamed 'Crested Baza') fumbling around in the bushes!
Anyway, a year or so ago, various trees were fenced off by six-foot chain-link fences, ostensibly because they were 'dangerous'. That meant they were all mature enough to start dropping branches, which is a common thing among our native gum trees. They'll often shed branches during a hot summer in order to conserve energy. This, of course, is what makes way for fungus and termites to hollow out the holes so vital for parrots to nest in. You can imagine my distress when I saw all these trees being fenced off as if earmarked for removal!
Well, I can't have been alone. Someone wrote to the local newspaper and expressed their worry about the trees in Jesmond Park. Next thing, a Consultation was had and the trees were made safe by judicious lopping of various limbs. When they fall, only small amounts of timber will go and, presumably, if one falls on my head I'll live to tell the tale.
What impressed me most is that one really special specimen, a Sydney Blue Gum of advanced years (probably older than the settlement of Australia) has been left with a permanent fence around it. This tree is really huge with a breast-height circumference of over three metres. Its branches are long and flexible and many have already fallen, leaving visible holes on and near the trunk. I have seen SC2s sticking their heads out of such a hole as well as Galahs and Rosellas. It's a Special Tree!
Well, when the tree surgeons came to inspect it, this tree contained so many nesting pairs of parrots that it has been left alone. FOR THE BIRDS' SAFETY, a fence has been installed to keep inquiring members of the public away. This one small gesture means so much to me as I grow older and watch what used to be a nice, quiet little town grow into a busy, traffic-filled city. At least someone in authority still cares for the birds.
