more birds in the fig tree

My fig tree has attracted two more species of natives that I've never before seen in the yard! As if the lorikeets weren't a joy enough. It's not easy to capture them on the camera though so bear with me. These are zoomed in as much as my little camera can handle, then massively cropped.

This is a noisy miner. They're loud, social larrikins and lots of fun to watch. There are heaps of them where I work where there's a lot more native vegetation, but I can't recall seeing any in the inner suburbs and I've never seen them in my yard. There were only three but they're usually in larger family groups. Better photos and information can be found here.

After I ran in to get my camera, I got another surprise - a red wattlebird or two. These you do see in suburbia, they're quite common, but still I'd never seen them in my yard. Better photos and information here.

Now I wonder if there's a way to invite them into the yard more often. Feeding Australian birds isn't encouraged; most of the natives eat insects, fruit or nectar so if you put out bird seed you'll mostly just feed the non-native birds. The best way to attract native birds is by planting vegitation they love, especially Australian natives. Unfortunately I hate the look of most native plants, so for now I'm content with my fig tree's seasonal attractive power.

Speaking of attractive power, I think that planting all of those flowers recently is starting to pay off. There are noticeably more bees in the garden these days. OK I'm sure that a lot of that has to do with the kumquats blooming and there being a bit more water about, but I'd like to think that the alyssum and salvia have something to do with it too.