I’m woken at 5-30 by the maniacal, cackling call of a kookaburra. Have you ever heard them?
I found this clip on You Tube
They have not been around for quite some time so I was pleased to hear them, really I was, but would prefer they did not wake me so early.
I peered out of the bedroom window. But it was too dark to see them, or take a photo.
Just a slight tinge of pink on the horizon. So I went to the archives to find some other photos I’ve taken of these crazy looking Aussie birds.
Look at that fearsome beak, they do not hesitate to capture and eat snakes.
Here he is sitting on the deck rail hoping for a hand out.
I’ve forgotten to top up the bird bath and this fellow looks a bit fed up about it.
Finally this kookaburra was bathed in the beautiful golden glow of the rising sun.
After being woken up and deciding it was too early to get up, I went back to bed and listened to the dawn chorus. In the background I could hear the cacophony of cawing from the crows, the chattering of the lorikeets and countless chirping and cheeping of other unidentified birds. Then the clear sweet melody of the magpie rings out. A lovely way to greet the day.
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Gilly (Lucid Gypsy) nominated me for this 7 day challenge and I have enjoyed being part of it. Today I would like to invite Gwennie (Gwenniesworld) to join in. Gwennie is another very keen gardener and loves cactus and succulants, her posts are filled with beautiful photos of nature.
gypsy life 
These days I don’t mind being woken up by the birds – means spring is coming:-)
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At long last, it has been a long winter for you.
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We have a mockingbird in our neighborhood who has a wide repertoire of bird songs he mimics but thank heavens he has never heard a kookaburra… yet!
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I think the kookaburra would be hard to imitate.
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I don’t know if you noticed, but in old Looney Tunes cartoons, whenever it was a jungle scene, they would always have kookaburras laughing in the background. As if … 🙂
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How appropriate would that crazy laughter be…
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I know exactly what you are talking about as a kookaburra seems to like one of the trees near my bedroom window. Not every morning, but enough. 🙂
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I can just imagine you cosied up, listening 🙂 🙂
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My only exposure to kookaburras is the song mentioned in a previous comment, “kookaburra sits in the old gum tree …” We used to vigorously sing it as a round when I was a kid and it usually ended in helpless laughter. Beautiful photos of these gorgeous guys. I hope to hear them for myself someday.
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To me they are the bird equivalent of the typical Aussie larrikin character.
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What a beautiful world to wake up to! 😀
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For you and me both Dianne.
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I’ve seen him a couple of times in a birdpark but I’ve never heard him laugh. And yes, 5.30 am is too early to be woken !!!
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They are true Aussie larrikins, I love their crazy laugh.
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Lovely Pauline and I’ve seen kookaburras but only in a zoo. They’re very cute 🙂
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I think they are larrikins and it annoys me that the crows and noisy minors have chased them away.
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I need the opinion of Australians at my blog Gastradamus, please. We love the Australians. Have you ever seen that movie Crocodile Dunde? We in America love it, we really do. We have all types of topics and some of them are a little touchy, but we need Australia’s help. Please visit Gastradamus, we’ve got topics about obesity, Ghostbusters, Abe Lincoln, Spiderman. You will all love, please comment you are wanted.
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Thank you for leaving a comment. Yes I have seen Crocodile Dundee, it is a legend over here. I will pop over to look at your blog.
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We love your comment at Gastradamus, we love the Australians. Is it possible for you to review a few more stories, would love the Australian opinion. Also if you can, tell you ausie friend about Gastradamus, we at America love your people.
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Great photos of the Kookaburra Pauline…I think they are very cute, but they always woke us up VERY early when we stayed with my parents in Port Macquarie…what is it about Aussie birds, they don’t know how to sleep in!!
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After a while I got used to them, but now it is the crows and it was so unusual to hear the kookaburras that they woke me up… 😦
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Loved the video Song.. and no doubt he was letting you know about the empty bird bath lol.. 🙂 lovely photo’s.. He we have the odd crow and magpie that make the harsher noises.. But mostely at 5-30am it is the lovely Blackbird who wakes us with his morning song.. And today the Sun was out early and Spring was in every bird feather as they set about building their nests.. 🙂
xx
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Oh spring must be round the corner if the birds are building their nests. I miss the song of the blackbird and thrush we do not have them over here.
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The Thrush are disappearing here too.. I think their habitat is going as many new homes are being built and the hedgerows are being pulled down.. We always had a Thrush at one time in the garden. We have not seen one now here for at least 3 yrs.. Sad .. But we have a resident Blackbird whom we call ‘Drop wing’ because his wing droops on one side.. He built a nest in the garden two years ago and comes every morning to feed and bathe in the bird bath.
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It is lovely to share our world with all the creatures of nature and sad to see the decline in their numbers.
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It is Pauline and it is usually Man who is the cause..
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Sadly yes. 😦
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Never heard a kookaburra’s song other than on YouTube, and never seen one, but I can imagine they would be super effective as an (unwelcome) alarm clock!!
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Certainly no staying asleep when they get going.
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Oh I love kookaburras. We had one that came to visit every day when we were kids. We’d give him the crusts from our jam sandwiches. Last year in Lorne, one swooped in and stole my friend’s lamb steak off his plate!! He was visiting the UK so thought it was excellent.
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I once had one swoop down and take the corn beef out of my sandwich as I raised it to my mouth. That made me swear…
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LOL. Sacrilege losing corned beef!!!!
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It was, but it was so close it could’ve been my nose!!!!
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Yowzers!
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:0
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Beautiful photos, Pauline. The call of the Kookaburra is a most effective alarm clock. 🙂 I think I would also have gone back to bed, with earplugs. 🙂
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Haha, yes I could’ve done with ear plugs, I didn’t get back to sleep…
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Very neat indeed. We used to sing some folk song about them when I was little. “Gay you life must be.”
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I don’t think I know that one.
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That was the last line of the song, that I was taught. I am including a wiki link about the song. (Which I didn’t know until I just now looked it up) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kookaburra_(song) I had not heard the “sitting on an electric wire” version. Apparently the word “gay” was asked to be replaced with “fun” in 2010. To make it more politically correct or something. There are also YouTube videos of the song as well.
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Thanks for the link I found that very interesting and then went to you tube to listen to the song. I do not know that song as I was a child in the UK. So silly replacing the word “gay” but I guess that is because people are sensitive about these things now.
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I loved hearing them as I have never even heard of this bird! I am going to play this YouTube video to my hubby because I love the sound of birds and even the slightest twitter wakes him up in the mornings and he doesn’t like it one bit! Thanks for sharing this post! Made my day!
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That video will certainly wake him up, and the neighbourhood too if you turn the volume up!!!
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Oh, yes, I know the sound of being woken up by kookaburras – I know you have been here before, but the memory of them has still not faded 😉
https://smallbluegreenwords.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/a-tale-of-cassowaries-and-aliens/
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Thanks for reminding me of that story Jude. Love your descriptive writing “a cacophony of kookaburras crash into your dreams with the subtleness of falling pan-lids.” It is quite strange how very few likes and comments were made back then, and only 3 years ago. WP has changed so much since the early days and now is far more interactive.
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Yes a lot of my early posts hardly got a look in, but then I started blogging for myself really so it was just an online diary/record. Now I’d miss the interaction.
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Same here on both counts!
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How things have changed…
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