Budgie

Budgerigars are native to Australia but belong in inland plains, not in the Blue Mountains so I was surprised to find this one flying free one morning. It was almost certainly an escapee from an aviary.

Budgerigar on fence, Lawson

Words to Walk With:
From Land Leased Back to Themselves by contemporary Australian poet John Kinsella

“1. Budgies
… perching on fenceposts
and augmenting, balancing
on rusted strands of barbed wire
over the salt run-off. Flock-birds,
they scan and sharply angle
the low sky with flights
of piercing intensity.
For us, at least, it's unusual—
a witnessing.”