Irresistible

First of all, my apologies for not answering comments yesterday - I got a few done, and the next thing I knew I was asleep over the iPad. How embarrassing.

It's all that fresh air in the garden, plus training. And the housework didn't get a look in.

It's been the same story today, but it's been a bit more fun. The weather has been very pleasant and all the birds suddenly seem to think it's time to start breeding. Now, I didn't know this, but when Brian, Hester and their mates start courting (there's an old-fashioned word for you), they bob up and down, as birds do, but as they bob down they go "ooof", like all the breath as been knocked out of them. It sounds really comical. I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't have been in the garden.

And I wouldn't have realised that even the Red Wattlebirds have their breeding plumage. Just check out this guy's beautiful red wattles, laying flat underneath his rather woofly moustache!

There is a breeding pair of Wattlebirds in the garden, and their antics are amazing. All their courtship seems to be done mid-air, and they swoop and cackle and carry on something alarming. They don't take any notice of me, and dive quite close as they chase around. They aren't dive-bombing - just having a good time.