Portrait of a Magpie Lark
Close up view of a Magpie Lark
I like having several bird baths strategically placed around our garden. I especially like those we’ve placed with a good view from our sun room where we often sit to have our meals.
During hot weather especially there is a constant stream of birds of many species which come to drink from or bath in the water. On more than a few occasions I have raced off to get my camera for more photos to share here. On this occasion a Magpie Lark posed just right for a good portrait shot as he paused from drinking.
The white eyebrow indicates that this is the male of a resident breeding pair in our garden. They make a delicate bowl-shaped mud nest, usually quite high up in nearby mallee trees.
Close up view of a Magpie Lark
Willie Wagtail up close
Willie Wagtail
We have a resident breeding pair of Willie Wagtails in our garden. They are a constant delight as they flit around looking for insects to snap up for a tasty snack. They will often come quite close to us when we are working in the garden or sitting relaxing on the back veranda.
Due to higher than normal rainfall over the last nine months I’ve had to mow our grass quite a few times with our ride-on mower. As I move around mowing the Willie Wagtails follow the mower, snapping up insects disturbed by the machine. Sometimes I feared I’d actually drive over one of them because they were getting quite close.
The Willie Wagtails frequently come to our various bird baths for either a drink or to bathe. This always gives more opportunities to experience close encounters with this species. It also affords excellent opportunities for close up photography, such as the shot shown above.
Book review: “The fearsome flute players”
8 Comments »5th May, 2011; Category: Bird Behaviour, Birds, Books, Garden birds, Magpies and Currawongs, Reviews
- The fearsome flute players
Book Review:
Roetman, P. E. J. and Daniels, C. B., 2011. The fearsome flute players: Australian magpies in our lives. Adelaide, Crawford House Publishing.
I have just finished reading this delightful book and thoroughly recommend it to all of my readers. I was asked by one of the authors to review this book on this site; I’m pleased I agreed.
Citizen Scientists
The fearsome flute players captures the very essence of what magpies mean to the people of South Australia. The project was based here in South Australia but the findings would be true throughout this vast land of ours. This book is the result of Citizen Scientists throughout SA. It was heavily promoted by Chris Daniels who was a regular guest on the morning radio show hosted by Matthew Abraham and David Bevan on 891 ABC Adelaide. They have written the foreword to the book. (They’ve also since shifted to the Breakfast programme.)
Survey forms
Chris Daniels, along with Matt and David, asked their listeners to fill in a special survey form on the ABC Radio web site. The survey allowed citizen scientists throughout the state to enter their observations of Australian Magpies in gardens, parks, schools, ovals, farms – wherever. They were also able to relate their stories about the magpies they saw, fed, helped when injured and any other bird/human interactions they cared to tell. The result is fascinating – and at times, humorous – reading.
Results: magpie stories
A total of 1,927 people filled in the survey. I was one of them. Of those, 1,222 people responded to the magpie story request, creating a rich source of information for the authors. These stories make up the bulk of the book and are certainly the great strength of the volume. A few of these stories are thought provoking, some are serious, many are hilarious and all well worth reading. Some of the best are illustrated by appropriately cheeky cartoon sketches, another highlight of the book.
Contents
The various chapters cover many aspects of the lives of magpies, always including human interactions and relationships with these wonderful birds. This book is not a scientific thesis paper; it has been written without jargon and will therefore be accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. It has a valuable place in any school library collection. While the chapters do cover topics like the magpie’s song and mimicry, food, foraging habits, territories, nesting and care for injured and orphaned birds, the main emphasis in each section is the stories told by the people.
Purchase the book
This wonderful book is available in some ABC centres and selected bookshops. Alternatively, you can order your copy online from the bookshop of the Barbara Hardy Centre for Sustainable Urban Environments (click here). On that page you can read a sample chapter and browse through the table of contents page.
SPECIAL OFFER:
If you order online and mention you read about this book on Trevor’s Birding, you will also receive a free CD of 200 photos featuring water, including many water bird photos. You can see sample of the photos here.
Australian Magpie
A brief visitor – Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo
I was out in our garden yesterday when I saw one of our resident Willie Wagtails chasing a bird I didn’t recognise at first. When it eventually sat still enough and I could get a reasonable look at it, I realised that it was a Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo.
Nothing unusual about that. We often hear them calling in the spring time and sometimes during the summer too. Sometimes they stay around for a few days and at other times they are just passing through.
What is unusual about this sighting is the timing. Most of this species has already flown north for the winter by the end of March, or even earlier. This individual was either a little tardy in its migration, or it was lulled into staying by our warm start to autumn. On the other hand, some individuals of many of our cuckoo species here in Australia are known to occasionally “over winter”. This means that they don’t migrate to northern Australia but prefer to stay and enjoy our brisk winter. Probably saves quite an effort in flying all that way, too.
Sadly, I don’t have a photo of this species yet, and it had flown off before I could fetch the camera from in the house. Despite that, it was a nice sighting at this time of the year.
Good birding.
Let’s all have a bird shower
Shower time in the bird bath
The birds in our garden really enjoy bathing in the bird baths we have provided. On warm days there is a constant stream of birds representing many species coming to drink and bathe. Sometimes it is not unusual to have 10 – 15 birds bathing, or waiting to bathe.
The New Holland Honeyeaters shown in this series of photos are perhaps the most demonstrative of all the species. They will often come in numbers, screeching out to family and friends to come and join them while the water goes in all directions. In fact, on hot days I need to replenish the water at least once a day, sometimes more.
In this series of photos I have captured more than just birds having a bath. The water sprays every where, creating a sort of ‘bird shower’ effect. The solitary Common Starling manages to keep its composure in the midst of all the chaos around him.
Click on any image to enlarge.
Shower time in the bird bath
Shower time in the bird bath
Shower time in the bird bath