Kookaburras​

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Kookaburras visit the garden frequently. It might be weeks between visits but then, suddenly, you hear that tell tale laugh and you know you are in for some quality kookaburra time.

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They love the outback and spend many lazy hours just hanging in the gum trees. One thing I have learnt about kookas is that they don't do anything in a hurry. They just sit. They stare. If they see something that might be worth eating, you see the flicker of interest, the turn of the head and the intent stare. They swoop,they eat and then they settle back into doing nothing.

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We often have them in threes. You hear one call out and the others answer. Then the chorus begins and they have a good old chat to each other. For some reason, after a chat it's time to find another tree, and off they go.

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They are quite used to our house and garden and settle down in a variety of places. They take up vigil on garden posts. They hang out on the balustrade, on the netting over the veggie patch and in the trees in the chook pen.

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I love their attitude. They are confident to the point of being arrogant. They have a bit of the 'noblesse oblige' about them. They don't mind us living here but they certainly aren't going to make any allowances for our presence - we fit into their world. I tried to feed them some meat to attract them closer. No thank you, we don't need you. The meat went off. They have an abundance of worms and lizards here. Unfortunately they probably get the odd baby bird too.

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They are definitely not popular with the smaller birds around nesting time. We often see the kookas being chased off by a determined mum or dad. Even then the kookas fly off nonchalantly as if to say, 'I didn't want to be here anyway!'

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One particularly eventful day one kooka flew into our 'sunroom' - the enclosed part of our deck. It couldn't find its way out again, so it settled in, peacefully waiting for the problem to sort itself out.

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It always makes me happy when I hear their laugh. Even during one of the saddest days of my life, my eldest brother's funeral, a kookaburra burst into laughter at the darkest moment and I just had to smile. Their call is infectious and you know a performance is about to begin. They are like the gentle giants of this garden, overshadowed in size by the black cockies but much more dignified. Aside from making me smile, I admire their laid back, no worries attitude to life.

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Whenever we see one in the garden, just hanging out, we stop what we are doing and just enjoy the moment. They seem content to allow us to do so.