We’re now down in Melbourne with Rob & Gi enjoying a week of catching-up, seeing family and friends, doing a bit of sightseeing and, of course, some birding. One species which is omnipresent, along the east coast, is the spectacular but under-appreciated Rainbow Lorikeet. The dazzling combination of emerald green, yellow, orange and blue, which gives it its name, and screeching call immediately attract attention to this common and obvious species. I guess its the equivalent in the UK of say Goldfinch – found everywhere but not really noticed by birders. We saw plenty in NSW and, on a walk through a local park here in Victoria, plenty more. Whilst looking through my photos of previous trips, for a suitable image to include in this blog, I spotted a good shot taken in Darwin in 2012, on our world trip. Only when I came to examine it more closely did I realise my schoolboy error – the bird was of course the range-restricted ‘top end’ version – Red-collared Lorikeet. A nice Australian armchair tick! We’ve added a couple of trip ticks so far with more to come we hope.