Hi all

Hi,

My name is Rod, and I own/manage a 75,000 acre Sheep & Cattle property (Ranch??) in Western Queensland (Australia).

Interests are photography, observing wildlife, shooting feral animals, and just generally enjoying living a life that is becoming increasingly rare these days.
(Recently, I have also taken up the hobby of enjoying just waking up alive! - I dont reccommend blood clots for fun & frivolity...)

Around the property, we regularly see flocks of Galahs, Corellas, Redwing Lorikeets, Cockatiels, Budgies, and Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos.

I dont own any parrots, and my only pets of any sort are my 5 elderly chickens, whom pretty much run their own lives, and deign to pester me when the chicken feeder has run out of grain.
Despite not actually owning any pets, it would seem that a large number of animals run my life to some degree. The homestead garden has a plethora of Apostle Birds as my security team, and then Bower Birds, Willy Wagtails, Corellas, Galahs, frogs, RTB cockatoos, lizards, Redwing Lorikeets, snakes, spiders, echidnas and possums.
So.....i dont find I really need to have any more pets!

We see some really interesting antics by the wildlife outside the kitchen window most days...

Actually; i tell a lie. I do have a part-time pet green tree frog. She climbs down the outside wall near the coldroom each night, and slides into a cool jar of rainwater I keep topped up on a ledge for her there. Then, if i wave any crickets/moths I find in front of her, she will deign to eat them for me...
(Not really sure who is who's pet, there...)

The corellas are interesting to watch; they spend nearly half their day breaking into the chicken feeder. The Apostle birds can get it open any time, as they all work together. However, the corellas are usually only prepared to work in pairs, and so find it a struggle to keep the lid open while feeding. It's interesting tomwatch the successes and failures of each days efforts, along with the squabbles between various animal species.

Anyway, thats probably more than enough for an intro. When I get time, I will add a link to my Flickr and Photobucket sites, and possibly upload some of the various cockatoo and lorikeet photos I have gathered over the past 5 years.

Regards to all.

Rod.

Hello Rod! Thank you for the very interesting intro. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say we would love to hear more and see photos of your amazing local wildlife.

G'day Rod!

I responded to another post of yours but it seems to have disappeared. I remember you from aus.gardens - we corresponded for a while about native birdlife and I lost touch with you after one of my too-numerous computer crashes. It's great to see you here and I hope you'll post some of your brilliant stories of the wildlife out past Longreach.

You say you have a lady pet tree frog? What happened to Sgr Toiletto Frogoli? I remember him with great affection and have named our resident King-of-the-Marshes frog after him. You really must post some of your pics of the frogs clustering around the tank for our members to see. Do you still have the one of all the frogs in the glass jar? LOL!

Anyway, I hope you'll be a regular poster, Rod. This is an excellent forum with lots of great members.

Trish from Newcastle

Hi Trish!

[Sorry I didn't reply to you a couple of days ago, but this week seems to have been one of chaos and confusion, and so time spent at a 'proper' computer is rather limited.]

Long time no talkee!

Pretty sure my last post to aus.gardens was April 2007, and there has been a LOT happen since then! Most of that 'Lot' involves Roddy spending time in either Hospital, or convalescing at home, but at least I'm still waking up each morning!
[At this stage, at any rate...]

Sadly, Senore` Toiletto has gone to the big frorgy in the sky, but I note he has left behind a string of obnoxious little green buggers, that continue to annoy me for sport...
The current frog seems completely unconcerned about being handled, as long as it is only to relocate her while I clean her bathing jar out...
[If you have a look at the album of Motivational posters on my Flickr site, you will see her on one about 'Being Green'...]

I will see what I can do about uploading some images, but most of my bird images are still on the Flickr site.
As I was having coffee at daylight this morning, I am hearing a LOT of wheezing from the trees out past the tennis court. I expect the RTB cockatoos are back for a visit... Attached is a small rendition of an RTB that I took in the back garden in 2010. The larger images is on the Flickr site.
As I tottered over to the laundry this morning, I also note 2 corellas at the chook feeder; pretending to be a combined chicken so the magic lid opens up for them...


There are a LOT of images of the frog guild (and a lot of other stuff) on the Flickr site, but what little new stuff I have added the past 18 months has been uploaded onto the Photobucket site.
Eventually, I will get around to organising the Photobucket site a bit better, and be warned the images there are a lot larger than the Flickr images.

Anyway, many thanks for making contact again, and also many thanks to the other people whom have made me welcome. Despite the handicap of not actually owning a parrot as such, I have a few stories to tell, when I get the chance...

Regards,

Rod.

Rod, thank you so much for sharing your incredible photography with us. Your native bird photos are breathtaking. Loved the photos of the Corellas breaking and entering the poultry feeders. I laughed out loud at the green tree frogs.

Allee,

Many thanks for the very kind comments.

Glad you like the photos, though I think you are being overly generous with saying they are breathtaking!

Sadly, I'm not getting as much time to take photos these days, but am starting to push myself to get back into doing so.

Just after I posted the previous reply to Trish, a flight of 6 RTB cockatoos landed in the tree just outside my office here(Athel Pine about 50 feet distant).
I wish to go I'd remembered to bring the damn camera in from the car!!

Here is a link to some Galahs drinking at a trough a few days back:
http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums...e/Wild Birds/GalahDrinking00114112014D700.jpg

Cheers,

Rod.

Welcome Rod, I enjoyed reading your intro!

Thanks for the galah photos. Not being too generous at all. I've never visited Australia, I'm jealous of your local wildlife and maybe a bit partial to Toos.