Black cockatoos

I saw some black cockatoos today and it was fantastic. I love these birds, I love the way they fly (it looks like they move in slow motion) and I love the screechy raucous noise they make (though I've got no idea why - it's really quite hideous). If it weren't for wedge-tailed eagles, black cockatoos would be my favourite birds.

So I've been trying to get a photo of them for my birds list. The problem is, they don't live around here, they seem to just fly from one horizon to another, and only pass by here occasionally. When they do appear, usually (a) I don't have the camera, or (b) I've just filled up the memory card, or (c) I do have the camera and do have enough memory, but the birds are too far away and the lens won't get them in focus.

But! Today was different! I was walking the dogs to the creek when a black cockatoo sang out from trees nearby. I raced over, looked up, and there it was!


Hahaha. Yes. After all this time I FINALLY get a close view of these birds, and this is the photo I come up with.

Please take one or all of the following excuses. (Go on, please. They're free.)

- I was so excited my hands were shaking.
- I was too busy looking at the bird to look at the viewfinder.
- I was cold and shivery.
- My eyesight malfunctioned.
- My camera chucked a wobbly.
- The light was too low.
- The bird was too high.
- The tree moved.
- The bird moved.
- A dog lead (with attendant dog) was attached to my wrist, and the dog moved.
Or (my favourite):
- I was making an artistic statement about time, nature and reality. This required blurriness.

I ended up putting two pics in the list - this one and this one - but they're not much better.

Anyway, off-camera there were about five birds altogether, and they were all tearing bark off the tree branches with their beaks. I don't know why. Here are two possible explanations:

1. They were ripping up bark to get to the insects living underneath it.
2. Black cockatoos are reputed to be rain heralds, always flying ahead of wet weather, but it's been showery here for a few days already, so these birds weren't able to herald anything. They were too late: the rain had callously overtaken them. So they sat in a tree and tore at the bark, their bird-hearts filled with rain-rage.