An afternoon with Pink D and Z

I followed Pink D and Pink Z this afternoon. They seem to be best buddies. We initially tracked them down to a backyard in Applecross where they were resting and trying to stay cool. They had found some dense shade by a swimming pool. Not a bad spot. I'd would have liked a dip in the  pool at the time as it was quite hot.

They flew off and we next found them feasting in a liquid amber tree. They continued to eat for over an hour before flying away to roost.

The tracking devices from the other birds indicated that two spent quite a bit of time near Hyde Park before roosting around Hollywood Hospital. The remaining pink tail is in the vicinity of Trigg.

Release at Perry Lakes

This evening we released the five study birds featured in my previous post. They were last seen flying off together to the ESE around 7pm after spending well over an hour sitting in the two trees they landed in after being released.  They flew off in the direction of calls from another flock in the distance.

Three roosted for the night in the vicinity of Hollywood Hospital, one closer to the Swan River and the last near Bold Park.

These birds are going to be followed intensively to see where they roost each night and to find out the size of the area around each roost they use for finding food.

With their pretty pink tails you can easily distinguish them from their wild flock mates. If you spot one please let me know.

Photo by Roger Groom

Photo by Roger Groom

Meet my new study birds

We fitted tracking devices to my next group of study birds at Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre today.

Here are portraits of each of my new study birds. You will see that they have all had their tail feathers coloured so they can be distinguished from their wild flock mates once released.

Pink D

Pink L

Pink K

Pink T

Pink Z

Spectacular flowering Marri

This year seems to be a particularly good one for flowering Marri trees (Corymbia calophylla). They are in full bloom in the hills at the moment. These are a few pics from Morangup this morning. Dryandra Rd in Morangup is a good place to go to see the rare pink flowering form.


The cockatoos are busy eating seeds from the green Marri nuts. I wonder if they think they are walking on a cloud with so much Marri blossom around them?