Woodswallows overhead
Dusky Woodswallow, Cleland Wildlife Park, Adelaide Hills
Over many weeks during November I’ve been outside quite a bit of each day. I have been trying to tame the garden and the rest of our 5 acre block of land. The Estate has been neglected over the last few years but I am finally getting on top of things.
While outside I tend to be more aware of the birds around the house and in the surrounding scrub. During my weeding, cleaning and mowing I’ve been aware on many occasions of small flocks of 10 – 20 woodswallows hawking for insects while on the wing on high. I wouldn’t have noticed them but for their calls which are quite distinctive and tend to carry far.
All those I saw were far too high for a photo; I could barely see them without binoculars, but I think they were Dusky Woodswallows. Besides, I didn’t have my camera at the ready. Instead, I have shown a photo above of one taken back in October when we took my grandson to Cleland Wildlife Park in the Mt Lofty Ranges near Adelaide. As the photo shows, this was of a captive bird in a walk through aviary.
We have baby Grey Currawongs in the garden
Grey Currawong in our garden
Over recent days we’ve had at least two juvenile Grey Currawongs frequenting our garden. They seem to be independent of the parents and are quite happy to poke around trying to find food for themselves.
I find it a bit odd to call them “babies” as they are as big as the adults already, but are still covered in downy feathers and are not all that confident flying. One recently landed on the gutter of our veranda and I was able to approach to about 2 metres away before it flew off in a clumsy way to the nearest tree. They are still to develop the far reaching piping call of the adults, their call still being a guttural squawk.
A few days ago one ventured too close to some juvenile Willie Wagtails just out of the nest. The Willie Wagtail parents swooped the Currawong mercilessly, banging onto the back of the poor bird until it flew away to a safer spot.
Noisy Miners causing problems
No Comments »14th December, 2011; Category: Bird Behaviour
As I wrote here a few days ago I am currently visiting my daughter in Ethiopia and doing some interesting birding on the side. You’ll have to wait until the New Year to see photos of the amazing birds I am seeing.
About a week ago I had an urgent email from a journalist with our daily newspaper “The Advertiser” which is distributed throughout South Australia. She was asking permission to publish one of my bird photos in the Saturday edition. The accompanying article explained how Noisy Miners, a protected Australian native bird, are causing many problems in gardens around our capital city, Adelaide. Many are calling for a cull of this species due to their aggressive nature towards other native bird species, especially small birds like Red-browed Finches.
I didn’t bring my computer with me as I am using my daughter’s. I couldn’t supply the journalist with a high resolution photo for the paper. So I referred her to my son who managed, with some clever lateral thinking and searching, to find the photo on our backup files. The article went ahead featuring my photo.
You can see the photo and read the article here: Scientists want noisy miner cull.
Good birding.
Red wattle bird in Eremophila bush
Red wattlebird feeding in Eremophila maculata (compact form)
Over the last few months the Eremophila maculata (compact form) bush in our driveway has been covered in bright flowers. It is a stunning picture and we enjoy seeing it in flower for so long. The Red wattlebirds also appreciate the flowers and visit the bush many times each day for a feed.
Other species that enjoy a feed here include the New Holland Honeyeaters, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters and the Singing Honeyeaters. Not to be outdone, the resident Mallee Ringneck Parrots also feed on the flowers. The ringnecks are far less delicate feeders, though, because they enjoy eating the whole flower, not just feasting on the nectar.
Red wattlebird feeding in Eremophila maculata (compact form)
Birding at Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Silver Gull, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
A few weeks ago went had a family get together. Our son and family were over here for our grandson’s 3rd birthday, and my wife’s sister and niece and her family came down from the mid north of the state. we had a barbecue lunch at home and in the afternoon we went to Sturt Reserve so the children could play on the excellent playground there.
This reserve is popular with locals and visitors. It has plenty of lawn areas for picnics along the banks of the Murray River. After the children had played for a while we all went for a short stroll along the river bank. I had my camera ready – but more for people shots. I wasn’t really taking all that much notice of the birds. I still managed a few good shots as shown here. The Whiskered Terns (see photo below) was a challenged as they constantly flew over the water. I must practise more at photographing birds in flight.
Whiskered Tern, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Little Black Cormorant, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge