Birds in my garden and Loquat liqueur

We're halfway through Spring, with some warm days, a couple of very hot days and some rainy days in-between.

This year due to the early warm weather, our Loquat tree (also know as Chinese Plum or Japanese Plum) next to our driveway in our front garden was full of fruit, but we had lots of fruit fly too, which meant my husband removed and threw away a lot of the fruit.

I'm not a great fan of the fruit, and in our house only my husband eats eat, so we give most of the fruit to a couple of friends that love it. This year I also made a Loquat Liquour with the fruit, and another one with the Loquat pips.

We've also had  Rainbow Lorikeets picking on the fruit that is higher up in the tree, and they aren't at all scared of people, even when you shoo them away, they just carry on merrily eating away...The cheeky buggers! They feed on fruit and flower nectar, so it's no surprise.

We also get a lot of doves, but mainly in our back garden. 

There's a couple who seem to reside in the lemon tree. They had lost a little baby that fell from a very precarious nest during some high winds a couple of months ago, and then I hung an empty coir basket in the tree and now they seem to be using it as their nest. Very sweet!

They are quite curious when we're working in the garden and seem to stick around looking at us, although if we get too close they fly away...

Can you see the dove peeking through the lemon leaves?

The visiting Dove couple

Another cute bird that visits our garden is the Willie Wagtail. This small bird wags the tail swinging from side to side as if dancing. They are very friendly, and they love to tease my cats and then fly away as soon as they see them moving...

And of course I can't forget the Australian Magpie. We have lots of them in the park across the street, but they also come into our front garden. They are very territorial, but usually have a good relationship with humans. During their breeding season from August to October, they can become aggressive and are know to attack pedestrians and cyclists.

Just last week we heard kids screaming and came out to see some kids in the park  across the road being chased by the magpies. The postmen around Australia are frequent targets!

My cat "Fluffy" on top of the postbox looking at the Magpies in the driveway

I don't know the name of the birds in the photos below, but they're also frequent visitors of the lemon tree in the backyard.

Can you see the bird on a branch under the flower pots?

I wish you a wonderful weekend and leave you with the recipe of the Loquat liqueur I made just in case you happen to have some loquats around. 

Loquat Liqueur

1 kg loquats

4 or 5 lemons

700 gr sugar

1,8lt vodka

Wash fruit and dry with a cloth. Put whole fruit in a wide mouthed sterilised jar.

Peel lemons and remove the pith (white part) and pips. Cut lemons into into thin slices and add to jar. Add sugar and vodka to jar until all fruit is covered.

Close lid and keep in a cool  dark place for a minimum of 3 months. I've kept mine in the fridge.

You can then filter the liqueur onto another bottle and discard the fruit.

Serve cool.