Rainbow lorikeets can be such bruisers, but this pair turns me into a cartoon princess | Johanna Roberts as told to Alyx Gorman

The day I moved into my apartment, the birds appeared on the balcony. Now they sit on my arm every time I come outside

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The day I moved into my apartment I was busy negotiating boxes and these birds just appeared on the balcony. They were like a little gang. Rainbow lorikeets can be such bruisers, so it felt like it was either a welcoming committee or a protection racket. There were so many of them, I worried it might become a lorikeet version of Hitchcock's The Birds. The previous owners must have been feeding them, so I think they were just waiting for signs of life to emerge again.

Within a couple of weeks, it became apparent there were two lorikeets who had claimed my balcony as their area. They started turning up together two or three times a day when I was working from home and on the weekend.