Bird aviary, Pinnaroo Caravan Park
1 Comment »17th February, 2010; Category: Aviaries, Bird Behaviour, Camera, Parrots and Lorikeets, Zoos
Bird aviary, Pinnaroo Caravan Park
During my visit to Pinnaroo last week I saw a sign pointing to a public aviary. It turned out to be adjacent the caravan park and consisted of one large aviary (shown in the photo above) plus three or four smaller ones. Surrounding these aviaries was a large enclosure with some Emus and a Black Swan in residence. The larger aviary contained a variety of Australian parrots and a Peaceful Dove.
A sign on the front of the cage says: “Be careful: we may bite.” (Click the image to enlarge.)
The one I’d be most careful of was the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. He immediately came to the wire in front of me to check me out and to inspect my camera – or was it to pose for a photo? I certainly wouldn’t like to get my finger in his beak!
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo in aviary, Pinnaroo Caravan Park
I had trouble taking photos through the wire mesh, and wherever I tried to focus on the birds through it, the cockatoo came and posed front and centre. I guess he figured that he was the star of the show. Of course he had been taught to speak the usual phrases and greeted me with a cheery “Hello Cocky” as I was getting out of the car. He then proceeded to use his full vocabulary like “Dance, Cocky, dance” and other phrases.
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo in aviary, Pinnaroo Caravan Park
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo in aviary, Pinnaroo Caravan Park
Related articles:
Magpies merrily carolling
Australian Magpie near Geranium, South Australia
Last Friday I was able to do some birding near Geranium in the mallee district east of home here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. I pulled off the main highway on to a side track (see photo below) and found a good spot for lunch. I’d been on this bush track many times before and knew that the birding can be quite good in this quiet spot.
While I was eating lunch I had good views of a male Superb Fairy-wren nearby. Just as I finished lunch I could hear a group of Australian Magpies carolling about 40 metres away. This singing increased in volume to the point where I just had to check it out. I estimate there were about 20 magpies in the one tree, all calling loudly. Their song filled the air all around. I then glanced over into the paddock adjacent to the tree. There were magpies everywhere.
A quick scan of the paddock with my binoculars revealed about another 60 magpies feeding in the grass. I’ve never seen such a large congregation of Australian Magpies anywhere before. There are records in the literature of large loose flocks of over 100 birds, but this was my first encounter with such large numbers. Truly spectacular.
Bush track through mallee scrub near Geranium, South Australia
Choughs everywhere
White-winged Choughs, Geranium, South Australia
Yesterday I was asked to drive from Murray Bridge to Pinnaroo via Karoonda in the Murray mallee region of South Australia. A local courier company needed some parcels urgently delivered in the morning and I was available. I used to do relief driving for this company.
I enjoy doing driving jobs like this because it gets me out of my office and away from my computer for some fresh air. It also enables me to look at the birds along the way. After I’d delivered all the parcels I took a leisurely pace on the way home, stopping a number of times to actually get out and stretch my legs and do some birding.
One of the things that impressed me on the outward journey was the number of White-winged Choughs in the region. It seemed that I was seeing a flock every kilometre or so along the way. It is my guess that this species tends to be found along the country roads in this region for several reasons.
- The roadside vegetation allows foraging opportunities for the birds, more so than many of the open farm paddocks nearby.
- The roadside vegetation provides excellent nesting sites in the many trees lining the route.
- The rain run-off from the roads gathers in puddles and gutters long enough for the birds to build their mud nests.
At the point where I stopped for lunch on a dirt side road I found a family of choughs, some of them posing for my camera nicely (see photo above).
One thirsty parrot
6 Comments »11th February, 2010; Category: Bird baths, Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Parrots and Lorikeets, Photos
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
This week I’ve migrated from my office to our sun room because of the heat. The office isn’t air conditioned and the sun room is lovely.
This gives me the opportunity to keep an eye on several of our bird baths. During the hot weather the bird baths play an important role in attracting bird life to our garden.
Yesterday I had excellent views of one of our resident Mallee Ringneck parrots. It had come in to have a good drink. This one didn’t have a bath as they sometimes do. Quite a few species really start splashing the water everywhere, just like a mini-sprinkler. Don’t they know we have strict watering restrictions here in South Australia?
Related articles:
- Thirsty times for the birds
- Time for a bath – includes a complete list of birds that have visited our bird bath – and some animals too.
Stirring times for the garden birds
Brown Falcon, Monarto Zoo
We were having breakfast out on the back veranda this morning when there was a sudden stirring of the garden birds. All the smaller birds like the honeyeaters went scurrying for cover in all directions. Their warning calls filled the air.
Just as suddenly the cause of the kerfuffle became apparent. A Brown Falcon came swooping low through the trees and bushes quite close to the house and where we were sitting. The bird continued on through the mallee scrub at the back of our house, unsuccessful in its quest for a tasty meal. It flew off before I could get a photo, so I’ve used a photo of one taken last year at Monarto Zoo about 10km west of our home.
The Brown Falcon we saw was considerably browner than the one shown in the photo. There can be quite a few variations in plumage colours between individuals, from the colours shown above through to almost a chocolate brown in the dark phase. All very confusing really.