Australian Owlet-nightjar
No Comments »22nd April, 2010; Category: Garden birds, Nocturnal birds, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars
Australian Owlet-nightjar
During recent evenings there have been times when our house and garden are undisturbed by noise. No television and no noisy neighbours – the nearest are about 60 metres from our house. During these times we are aware of the wildlife in our garden – if they call. Last week it was a Brush-tailed Possum – I’ll write about that soon.
Tonight and last night we heard an Australian Owlet-nightjar calling briefly – not long enough to get a torch and track it down. Being nocturnal it had come out of its hiding place to feed. The photo above was taken a few years ago now. It shows “our” nightjar sunning itself in the entrance of its roosting hollow. You don’t often get a chance to see this species in broad daylight.
The Australian Owlet-nightjar looks like a miniature owl. It is only 20 – 24 cm long. It can be found all over Australia but is more often heard than seen.
Aggressive Red Wattlebirds
Red Wattlebird
This morning I was suddenly aware of a noisy disturbance just outside my office window. I looked up to see three Red Wattlebirds locked in a furious battle in the garden bed. In fact, I thought at first it was only two fighting each other. As I reached for my camera, they flew off, and I saw that there had been three birds fighting.
What caused this kerfuffle? I have no idea. As they flew off two of them were aggressively chasing the third one. The battle may well have continued elsewhere.
Red Wattlebird
Crested Pigeon resting
No Comments »10th April, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Murray Bridge, Pigeons and Doves
Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge, South Australia
A few days ago I took a series of photos of one of the Crested Pigeons resident in our garden. This bird was sitting in one of our bird baths. Normally they just sit on the edge and take a short drink, but this one must have felt the need to sit in the water. I don’t think there was much water in it, but it still looked rather comical.
Subsequent photos show the bird in various poses before it decided to fly off.
Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge, South Australia
Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge, South Australia
Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge, South Australia
Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge, South Australia
Bird trouble in the garden
Collared Sparrowhawk
I was outside enjoying breakfast and the newspaper this morning when the birds in the bushes in our garden erupted in noise and confusion. The New Holland Honeyeaters suddenly began screeching and smaller birds like the House Sparrows went scurrying for cover. The resident Common Starlings headed off rapidly into the mallee scrub and the Red Wattlebirds were carrying on noisily.
Seconds later a juvenile Collared Sparrowhawk came swooping into the garden and landed in a tree in our back yard. The other birds kept up their noise and harassment until the sparrowhawk reluctantly flew off through the scrub.
After that, life in the garden returned to its former calmness.
And I returned to my paper.
Related article:
Wittunga Botanic Gardens
Wittunga Botanic Gardens, Adelaide Hills
Late last year I had a brief visit to the Wittunga Botanic Gardens in the Adelaide Hills. I had a medical appointment nearby and when that was out of the way I drove the short distance to the gardens and found a shady spot to have lunch. This was in the spring last year, but it turned out to be quite a warm day.
These gardens used to be a part of a large private collection of plants, mainly exotic with a nice mix of Australian native trees and shrubs. In the spring time to exotics can put on quite a colourful show. After lunch I took the camera and strolled around the gardens trying to get a few bird shots. This is usually an excellent spot for birding but on this occasion the birdlife was a little quiet. Like me, the birds were probably feeling the first heat of the coming summer.
Little Pied Cormorant, Wittunga Botanic Gardens, Adelaide Hills
The gardens feature some dense plantings of both native and exotic species. It also boasts some beautiful sweeping grassed areas ideal for picnics as well as several water features. Somehow the usual ducks, coots and swamp hens weren’t to be seen during this visit – except for the two Australian Wood Ducks shown feeding in the photo below.
Australian Wood Duck, Wittunga Botanic Gardens, Adelaide Hills
Wittunga Botanic Gardens, Adelaide Hills
Related articles:
- Wittunga Botanic Gardens
- Wittunga Botanic Gardens part 1
- Wittunga Botanic Gardens part 2
- Wittunga Botanic Gardens part 3
- Wittunga Botanic Gardens part 4