It's not everyday that one is given the opportunity to see the Australian Kookaburra in its own habitat. Not that it's an endangered species at all, rather there is becoming fewer areas of habitation available to them. City folk like us have to travel past the fringe residential areas to see them cavort amongst the peppermint trees chasing small insects and lizards for a nutritious snack.

So when I was out in the bush camping with my boys recently it was a real treat to stalk one with my new camera. Having secured a decent meal of grasshopper, this kookaburra was in no hurry to fly away giving me ample opportunity to get some good closeups of it and its dinner.

A carnivore by nature the kookaburra would surely be a welcome addition to any garden. Those unwanted crickets, grasshoppers and cicadas would be gone in an instant. The downside being that so would your frogs, geckos and other desirable reptilia.

The kookaburra has an uncanny call resembling human laughter hence often called the 'Laughing Kookaburra'. You can almost imagine a jolly, large man succumbing to a humurous joke and laughing so hard that he eventually falls off the back of his chair. This is what kookaburras sound like. And it's quite a pleasant laugh echoing through the Aussie bush.

As children we would often sing this song whenever one would be spying us from above;

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be

This song was written long before 'gay' meant what it does today.

Occasionally they will visit our backyards but these moments are becoming more rare. However, while I wouldn't promote the idea of feeding them, others have and continue to be revisited on a daily basis. Turning up just on dusk they will happily take small chunks of meat from your hand and return to the safety of the trees - provided you have some.