Magpie Kills again...Red Kardinal rose

How sad to come back on Saturday after visiting the Artisan Market and getting olive oil from the Quarry Market where Brian also bought six tomato plants, to find the young Magpie stone cold dead in the drive way... In my earlier blog I told of how this male Magpie was bullying the youngster which was quietly sitting by the pond.
It did have a wonky leg but surely it wasn't killed because of that?  We will never know...I buried it next to the Willy Wagtail under the Walnut tree..

Then yesterday, while looking at yet more gum tree branches chewed off by the Black and Yellow tailed Cockatoos , I came upon this large Magpie nest blown down in the ferocious winds the other night. If you click on it you may see the pink plastic binder twine used as lining material.
The nest next to it for comparison is a tiny Greenies nest and the golf ball in it is merely there to stop it blowing away in the wind.....
The greenies did nest under the patio vine last year but this year when they came and had

a look, they must have decided it was too much like suburbia with the Black bird already established (it is sitting on eggs now the nest just above the patio door) and the Wagtails busy constructing their nest a few meters away. The Wagtails have been building this nest for three weeks now and have not occupied it, so we are wondering if it is a rental property or even a spec home and no one is interested in paying high rents in this upmarket position.....

Above is Kym's twig installation....as mentioned before the Yellow tailed Black cockatoos chew through the thickest branches and litter the ground with them. It is all very well to have plenty of kindling for the fire next winter plus all the eucalyptus leaves but it is a constant job to gather them up and store them. At least they don't make as much raucous noise as the dreaded Correllas which can be here in their hundreds making a mess of the gum trees as well.

Above is the Kardinal rose and it is interesting that the colour reproduced here is much more orange than in the garden. It is a lovely rose and among the first to bloom this season.
The variety of flower shapes and sizes and colours never ceases to amaze and delight us
The Gerberas on the left are doing so well this year too. They originally came from Brian's mother's garden and they are quite different to the ones you buy now . I thought they were drought tolerant but they do need watering in summer.....

The other delight is the Callistemon or bottle brush, such an intriguing form when you compare it to all the other flowers in the garden
with delicate golden tips on the ends of the brushes.....
Well, the mower wouldn't start this morning so instead there will be weeding to be done.......
Meditating on the vagaries of modern machinery.....while pulling things out by the roots......