Magpie bathing antics
Yesterday I was reading while sitting in the sun on our back veranda. I love sunny autumn days in South Australia.
After a few minutes I was interrupted by a young Australian Magpie attempting to have a bath. The veranda is only a few months old and I still haven’t connected the down pipe from the roof to the rainwater tank. My wife has put a tub underneath the outlet to catch dew and rain so we can then use the water to keep the garden alive. With the recent rain this tub was full of water.
This young magpie tried every method he could think of to have a bath, but the water is about 30cm (12″) deep. He ended up vigorously swishing his head in the water which ended up splashing all over him. But that wasn’t enough.
He tried stepping down into the tub but ended up just flopping into deep water most ungracefully. Several attempts later he gave up and flew off to preen. It’s one of those amusing incidents where you wished you had a video camera in your hand at that very moment. Sorry – no video. You’ll just have to be content with a still photo instead.
Australian Magpie
Strange Willie Wagtail
On our walk this morning we saw a very active Willie Wagtail, flitting around in the early morning sun gathering his breakfast.
As we approached I noticed something different. It didn’t look normal. As it flew past quite close to us I realised that it had no tail. In fact, it looked quite dumpy, not at all like a Willie Wagtail. It still managed some nifty aerobatics as it gathered its morning food.
Needless to say I didn’t have a camera with me, so below is a photo of a normal looking Willie Wagtail.
PS: Should I have called it a Willie Wag???
Willie Wagtail
Feral Pigeons pipe dream home
2 Comments »1st May, 2009; Category: Pigeons and Doves
Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons)
We have quite a few Feral Pigeons (Rock Doves) in various places around our home town of Murray Bridge, South Australia. They are present in large numbers around the CBD and the various large factories and other types of buildings around town.
On our way home from visiting the shopping areas we often drive past a used steel and metal outlet. Along the boundary fence they have some large racks on which are stored numerous steel pipes, as shown in the photos. The local feral pigeons have decided that these pipes make excellent apartment buildings. They have been nesting and roosting in the pipes for quite a few years. Obviously there is no great demand for these pipes in the used pipe business.
I’ve often tried to remember to take my camera with to get a few photos of them. I remembered earlier this week.
What I want to know is how they survived the heat of our recent extreme summer. With air temperatures often reaching 48C+ and the sun temperature probably 55-60C, how did they survive. And were the eggs in the nests cooked nicely after several such days of high temperatures?
Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons)