Galahs on Guard

This morning while out in the garden I saw about eight Galahs fly in quietly and settle on the tall mallee tree near the house. I observed them watching me carefully as I tried not to look too conspicuous as I casually went inside to fetch the camera. they were still there when I came out but were very cautious.

I managed to get a few shots of them before they flew off squawking in their usual manner. Perhaps they didn’t like me pointing something up at them. Maybe they were heading off to join the flock I heard calling in the distance. The flock seemed to be quite large; sometimes they can reach into the hundreds.

The shots I managed are not very good photographs. The sky was overcast and the light conditions very poor. Somewhere in my collection of slides I have a magnificent photograph of a pair of Galahs sitting on the remnant of a tree sticking out of the water in one of the lakes at Hattah-Kulkyne National Park in Victoria. The photo was taken with the last rays of sunlight lighting up the rose coloured feathers. I must find that slide, scan it and post it here.

It is a magnificent sight to see a flock of two to three hundred Galahs all gliding and wheeling through the air in unison, the setting sun lighting up their breast feathers like so many rose coloured beacons flaming against the deep blue Australian sky.

Less attractive are the sneaky groups of half a dozen or so that slip under our radar in the early morning light and proceed to demolish the crop on our almond trees weeks before they are ready to pick. Or the brazen individuals that sit atop the pear trees, nibbling around the stem of each piece of fruit, again, only weeks before they are ripe.

Updated Nov 2013.