The Yellow Tufted Helmeted Honeyeater

Yeah, I talk to birds and get lucky sometimes

Blue sky and sunshine and the bed is warm and cosy. The Bureau Of Meteorology announces that we are in single digits. You don’t need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind blows or where the mercury lies.

Deep breaths energise me and I jump up and throw some material items over my naked body. Damn it the clothes are as cold as my skin. Movement changes that and I hustle myself out to Effy, my EOS VW, and head off into a morning of beauty.

Some nourishment from The General Food Store, a chat about my plans for the day with the staff and back in Effy to cruise down the windy roads of the Dandenongs.

I am out on my endless quest for the magical funghi. These fun guys seem very shy and they hide their caramel-coated hats from me on a daily basis. I drive without a destination in mind. Looking for pine trees and fog and the environment where they grow. Everywhere I look as I walk through one reserve and another is filled with mycelium, but not the ones I seek.

It’s a glorious chilly morning and being out in it is worth every bit of effort of climbing out of that king-size bed today.

Cockatoos and whip birds, or is it a lyrebird, ring in my ears. Not a cloud around and the grass and bush is wet beneath my hiking shoes. Brightly coloured amanita mushrooms litter the trail and bits and pieces of other funghi show me that other foragers have been here before me.

Effy and I head off down the road with no set destination. ABC Radio tells me about tragic bus accidents and that Biden will not visit Australia as America tries to remain economically and socially afloat. No one really seems to care that he won’t be here. The only thing that will suffer is the news cycle. They will find more fodder somewhere.

Side roads, no through roads, and back roads are all part of this ramble. I make a right turn and I see a gate and a little Vic Parks sign and a place to put Effy and I head onto the trail.

Poking my stick and my head and body through the brush I check out what nature has in front of me. I notice a bit of a swamp or a little lake nearby and follow the path around to where I can get a better vantage point of this remarkable piece of Australia.

I go a bit closer to the lake and I notice some brightly coloured birds are flitting around. I find a place to stand still and view the water and hope to get a better view of the birds. I whisper and whistle quietly hoping they might understand.

Did you know that in 1971 Victoria chose the helmeted honey eater as its state emblem? In 1989 there were only about 50 of these birds remaining on the planet. They only exist in Victoria and I had never seen one.

Until today.

Good fortune may have passed me by in my search for other living matter, but the birds did not let me down. As I sat there, I would say maybe 5 of these yellow dynamos came by to check me out and to say hello. Sometimes they came within a few feet of where I was, and they seemed as curious about me as I was about them.

Fuck the fungi, I was in bird heaven.

The brightness of their yellow feathers and their inquisitive behaviour made my day. Some research once I got back home and I believe I may have stumbled upon an area where these birds are being looked after by volunteers from Friends Of The Helmeted Honeyeater.

I thank them deeply for their service and for keeping this gorgeous little bird part of our world.

I have been plenty blessed during my stay with the ever-present cockatoos here in the appropriately named Cockatoo, Victoria. Especially lucky to have had two sightings of the yellow-tailed black cockatoo in flight two days in a row and these yellow characters make it a trifecta of winged luck for me.

There may be about 250 of these winged marvels now in Victoria. If you want to get involved or read more about their conservation, check out the link below.

They are critically endangered. If you see one, count your blessings and praise the beauty of nature.

We are all nature.          

https://www.helmetedhoneyeater.org.au/fact-files/helmeted-honeyeaters/