Opportunistic Magpies
Australian Magpie gathering wool for nesting material
It never ceases to amaze me when I consider how enterprising and opportunistic birds can be, especially when it comes to nesting time. It’s that time again and our resident Australian Magpies having been busy fighting to establish their territories. Our 5 acre block on the edge of town is the intersection of three territories, so at this time of the year there are many disputes over boundaries.
One pair dominates the area around our house and sheds and they are the birds that come most frequently to our bird baths and close to the house. They will often come right up to the front or back doors and allow us to get quite close. They are also quite happy to search for food only a metre or two from where we might be working or sitting in the garden. This includes our back veranda area where we often cook a BBQ and eat a meal.This is despite never having fed them in any way.
A few days ago my wife had a fleece of coloured wool out in the sunshine to dry. She was preparing it for spinning but our resident female magpie found it. Soon she was taking big chunks to the nest tree. Incensed at this free-loading, my wife brought the fleece onto the veranda and draped it over the clothes horse. Undeterred, the magpie enterprisingly found it and continued her nest lining activities. The photographic proof is shown on this post.
For those interested in learning more about magpies go to this article: The fearsome flute players. There is a special offer for readers of Trevor’s Birding.
Australian Magpie gathering wool for nesting material
Australian Magpie gathering wool for nesting material
Kestrel flyover
1 Comment »5th August, 2011; Category: Baby birds, Bird Behaviour, Eagles Hawks and Kites, Garden birds
Nankeen Kestrel, Laratinga wetlands, Mt Barker SA
Earlier this week I took a mid-morning break to have a coffee and to do some reading. It was a beautiful day with bright sunshine, moderate temperature and no clouds. It was the complete opposite of some of the dreary,gloomy, drizzly weather we’ve had this winter. I was enjoying the warmth of the sun, and the coffee wasn’t bad either.
As I read, a bird call nearby attracted my attention from my book. I’d heard this call several times in the previous few days but had not managed to catch sight of the birds. I recognised the call as that of a juvenile Nankeen Kestrel begging for food from the parents. A few seconds later an adult bird flew overhead, closely pursued by two young ones begging as they flew.
They went across our garden so quickly it was only a brief glimpse. They didn’t land nearby so there was no opportunity for a photo or two, so I’ve included a photo of a different bird of the same species taken in nearby Mt Barker some months ago. I have observed that they had been landing regularly on the cross bar of a nearby electricity power pole. Getting close enough without disturbing them can be a challenge as they can see me coming.
I’ll keep trying.
Good birding.
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Red-rumped parrots and the morning paper
3 Comments »21st July, 2011; Category: Bush birds, Garden birds, Murray Bridge, Parrots and Lorikeets
Red-rumped parrot (male)
This morning I walked down our long driveway to collect the newspaper. I heard a twittering in the tree above me and I was delighted to see two Red-rumped Parrots. A male and female with the male perched in the early morning sunshine lighting up the beautiful colours.
This is a common and widespread species in our region, the lower Murray River district of South Australia. Despite being common in our area, we rarely have them visit our garden and five acre block. I find this both strange and disapppointing; strange that I can’t account for them not visiting, and disappointing because they are such beautiful birds.
Of course, I didn’t have my camera with me, and they didn’t hang around long enough for me to race inside, fire up the camera, and chase them down. You get that.
So… I’ve included in this post some photos I prepared earlier. I took these on a recent visit to Riverglades, a wetland over the other side of the Murray River from our home.
They are beautiful birds, especially the colourful male. The female is much duller.
Good birding.
Red-rumped parrot (male)
Red-rumped parrots (male on left, female on right)
A wonderful welcome home
Peaceful Dove, Cleland Wildlife Park
We’ve been away visiting family in Sydney for the last few weeks. It was lovely to play with my 2.5 year old grandson. Over the coming few weeks I’ll be writing more about the birds I saw there and on the drive over and back. We covered 2910km by car over 5 days, so I’ve lots to share. Stay tuned.
On the morning after arriving home I took out a basket of washing to hang on the clothes line. Quite close to our back veranda I disturbed a Peaceful Dove feeding on the ground. This was the closest to the house I’ve observed this species. It was a wonderful – and peaceful – welcome home. The bird flew off a short distance and landed in a nearby tree. It sat there for a few moments, giving its soft peaceful “doodle-doo” call. Love that.
While this species is widespread in our district we don’t always have it present in our garden. At best it is an occasional visitor. Pity about that; I’d love to have it here all the time.
Good birding.
Don’t mess with this currawong
No Comments »19th June, 2011; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Magpies and Currawongs, Murray Bridge
Grey Currawong in our garden
Five years ago we would occasionally hear Grey Currawongs in the distance. They rarely ventured down the hill and into our garden. Over the intervening period, however, their visits to our garden and mallee scrub have become more and more frequent to the point where we both see and hear them almost daily.
Along with this change has come a growing boldness. On several occasions they have visited the bird bath and have visited our back veranda. The bird featured in today’s photo had been wandering around on the veranda and flew off to a nearby fence when I came out to take a photo.
When I downloaded the photo I suddenly became aware of the evil looking yellow eye. Is it sending a message: “Don’t mess with me!”