The first thing we noticed, after the delicious smell of eucalyptus, was the abundance of birds. Canberra is intentionally friendly to wildlife. Thanks to a central lake, adjoining wetlands and several nature-park corridors that flow almost to the town center, birds are everywhere. Parrots, cockatoos and kookaburras are commonplace, and in two weeks of the most casual bird-watching we'd identified more than 50 species. By the end of the 20th century, over 12 million trees had been planted in Canberra, most of them non-native.
Some birds seem happy to exploit exotics.
Cockatoos feast merrily on American pine-cones and Italian cypress nuts. Of course, many birds are specially adapted to feed on native trees and shrubs, and that means some of the best bird-watching is to be found at the National Botanic Garden. Griffin included a botanic garden in his original plan but it didn't really get going until the '60s. Perhaps it is thanks to this late start that the garden is, remarkably, dedicated entirely to Australian plants. Conveniently located right next to ANU, it has provided me with a perfect introduction to the native flora.