Waking up with the birds in Narrandera
Laughing Kookaburra, Lane Cove National Park, Sydney
Sydney Road Trip May 2010
On our recent trip to stay with family in Sydney we stayed one night in a motel in the town of Narrandera. It was on the southern edge of town, near the intersection of the Sturt and Newell Highways. Though a little noisy with the sounds of trucks, we still had a good night’s sleep.
At dawn the next morning I was woken by the wonderful sound of a Laughing Kookaburra nearby. It’s a wonderful way to wake up. The morning was crisp and cool and slightly foggy. Sadly I didn’t have time to add many more species to my list before we headed off towards Sydney straight after breakfast.
I never did see the kookaburra that woke me – so I’ve included a photo of one I saw in Lane Cove National Park on our last visit some 18 months earlier.
White-browed Babblers
White-browed Babbler
White-browed Babblers are a resident breeding species in our garden. Hardly a day goes by without them coming quite close to the house and scratching around in the mulch or leaf litter under the trees. At other times they hop all over nearby trees, searching under the bark for ants, beetles and spiders.
Usually they come in a family group of between five and eight, sometimes more. they move through the garden in a loose flock, constantly calling to keep in contact with each other. They are quick movers, hopping quickly through the foliage, along the ground, across branches or wherever they are feeding at the moment. If one looses close contact with the rest it with fly low and fast to make contact with the group again.
Because they are always on the move I have had a challenge getting good photos of them. On this post I have two reasonable photos but they are still not great. I guess I’ll just have to keep on trying.
White-browed Babbler
Crested Pigeon in a bird bath
Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge
I’m not sure if I’ve shown these photos before. Never mind if I have. I was sorting through a few photos taken a few months ago and came across these of a Crested Pigeon IN our bird bath. It wasn’t content to sit on the edge of the bowl – it had to actually get into it and sit in the water.
When I checked a few minutes later I discovered that there wasn’t much water there anyway, so the bird was probably giving me a hint: “Fill ‘er up, mate!”
So I did.
Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge
Injured bird – Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
This morning I was busy at my desk in my home office when I was startled by a sudden loud thump on the glass of the window about a metre from me.
From time to time we are used to having birds fly into the glass of our windows. Usually the bird takes a few moments to recover before flying off. While it is stunned it is sometimes possible to get good close up photos of the bird in question.
I looked out the window but couldn’t see the poor victim. Grabbing my camera I raced outside. A Mallee Ringneck parrot was on the ground a few metres from the house, sitting quietly while it recovered from the shock. I quickly took the shots on this page before leaving it in peace to recover. I checked about ten minutes later and it had flown off.
I’ve always admired these beautiful parrots, but in examining the feathers up close in the morning sunlight highlighted the amazing colours of the feathers. This species is a resident breeding bird in our garden and nearby mallee scrub. This close encounter has given me a fresh appreciation of this bird.
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Noisy birds in Chatswood
This afternoon my wife and I accompanied our 19 month old grandson and our son on a visit to Chatswood on the Sydney North Shore area. The Chatswood CBD is an easy twenty minute walk from his home. We found a good spot to have a delicious lunch and later did some shopping.
It was dark when we left on the homeward walk. My attention was drawn to an extremely noisy group of birds calling just outside the doors of one of the shopping precincts. In three medium sized street trees there must have been several hundred birds, all calling raucously as they settled down to roost. In the little light coming from the shops I was able to determine that they were Rainbow Lorikeets. I can’t ever recall seeing so many together in such a small area.
Earlier on when heading for Chatswood we saw two Rainbow Lorikeets feeding near the footpath. I regretted not having my camera with me. I would have got some excellent shots. You’ll have to put up with photos taken elsewhere some time ago.
Rainbow Lorikeet, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney