Last week a young lorikeet appeared in our garden. It was alone and came towards us with no fear so we thought it must be an excaped pet. At the time we were in the middle of a heatwave so we offered it water which it drank a lot of. It also had plenty of
nectar from a native flowering tree in the garden. It kept following me when I put it down, and climbing up my arm to try and sleep on my shoulder. Eventually we put it in a big bucket so it could rest while we put the kids to bed. By the time we checked it one hour later it had become unresponsive. It took a few hours to die and no one in the area has come forward to say it is theirs so it probably was a wild one. The kids were fascinated by it all, and very interested in having a funeral and "sad party" for it. I've since painted a small gouache study of the lorikeet as it was dying and have plans for a bigger painting when I get a chance.
