White-fronted Honeyeater
Juvenile White-fronted Honeyeater
I apologise for the poor quality of the above photo. I only had a few seconds to take it before the bird flew away, not to return. If it does, and I get a better shot, I’ll replace it.
This morning was very hot. It reached 45C (113F) just before lunch time, with a strong, hot northerly wind blowing up dust everywhere. Not a pleasant day by any measure.
New Home Block species
Despite the atrocious conditions I was able to add a new bird species to my home block list, a juvenile White-fronted Honeyeater. I had previously seen this species less than a kilometre away on several occasions, so it seemed inevitable that I’d record it here someday. Today was that day. It brings my home list to 110 species; adding new species doesn’t happen often these days.
Distribution of White-fronted Honeyeaters
This species is widespread throughout inland Australia west of the Great Dividing Range. It is absent throughout the northern parts of Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland as well as the south-western tip of western Australia, southern Victoria and Tasmania. Here in Murray Bridge is near the southern-most part of South Australia it can be found. It can occur in the Coorong area and once I saw one bird near Lucindale in the south east of the state.
Habitat and breeding
The White-fronted Honeyeater prefers dry inland scrubs, mallee and eucalypt woodlands. It usually breeds in the latter half of the year but will also respond to rain and breed at other times. The one I saw was an independent juvenile. It probably fledged sometime in the last two months.
Normally they lay 2-3 eggs in a cup shaped nest comprised of bark, grass, or spider’s web and is usually located low in a bush or even on the ground.
Reference:
Pizzey, G and Knight, F, 1997, The field guide to the birds of Australia, Sydney, Angus and Robertson.
White-winged Choughs, Botanic Gardens, Canberra
White-winged Choughs, Botanic Gardens, Canberra
The White-winged Choughs I saw in the Australian National Botanic Gardens earlier this year are obviously used to large numbers of people visiting the gardens. They seemed quite at ease with me taking photographs of them from a few metres away. They were more intent on finding something to eat.
White-winged Choughs, Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Choughs spend much of their day on the ground, scratching in the dirt or removing any mulch put there by gardeners. One of them found a buried cone from a tree and there was suddenly a great kerfuffle and they all came running to have a taste of this delicacy.
I didn’t distrub them to have a closer look at the cone, but in the photo it seems to be something like a Hakea seed cone. It could also have been a Banksia seed cone.
Banksia flower, Botanic Gardens, Canberra
What is this bird?
Mystery bird, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
What is this bird?
During my visit to the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra early this year I saw the bird shown in the photograph above.
Even though it is a reasonable photo, I am at a loss to determine the species. It was not happy with me being there taking a series of photos. I heard several others but they failed to show themselves. The photo was taken in the fern gully near the entrance to the gardens. Below I’ve included several more photos of the habitat.
At first I thought they were White-browed Scrubwrens, but the call was wrong and there is no prominent white eye-brow.
The closest I can come to identification is Large-billed Scrubwren, but that species is not listed on the bird list for the gardens. Birds Australia atlas site is no help either.
Can any one help me? Leave your suggestions in the comments, or use the contact form.
UPDATE: I put out a request on the Birding-Aus and Canberra Birds newsgroups yesterday asking for help with identification of this bird. I had about 15 people reply and all but one said it was a juvenile White-browed Scrubwren. The mystery has been solved. Thanks everyone. I’ve published some pertinent responses in the comments below.
Fern gully, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Ferns in the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Eastern Spinebill, Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Eastern Spinebill on Kangaroo Paw, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
The Australian National Botanic Gardens contain an extensive collection of Australian native plants. When these are flowering they make a wonderful display in the bushland setting. Fortunately there is always something in flower whenever you visit.
On our last visit early this year we were delighted by the extensive array of Kangaroo Paws in flower. The one shown in the photo above is Anigozanthus flavidus. The Eastern Spinebill’s loved the flowers and came frequently to feed on the nectar in the flowers. Spinebills are members of the honeyeater family of birds in Australia.
Kangaroo Paw, Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Kangaroo Paw, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Sturt's Desert Pea, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Whenever my wife and I travel interstate we look for national parks and botanic gardens to visit. Both afford excellent opportunities for us to pursue our interests. My wife is interested in Australian native plants and flowers – she has a small nursery – and I am interested in the birds that frequent such places.
On our trip through the eastern states last Christmas and New Year we visited Canberra for a short while. Our main objective was to visit the National Gallery to see the special Degas art exhibition. As important was a brief visit to the Australian National Botanic Gardens. These gardens are possibly our favourite in all that we have visited so far.
Outdoor concert, Botanic Gardens, Canberra
We were able to spend about three hours wandering the gardens on this occasion, not nearly enough time, granted, but we were on a tight schedule. During our stay we were entertained by a jazz group playing a variety of pieces. This, we found out, was a part of their Summer Series of concerts on Sunday evenings. Daylight Saving is ideal for such events and it proved to be very popular with many hundreds of people coming in to the gardens. Fortunately the music did not deter the birds, and I was able to compile a nice list and get some interesting photos.
Red Wattlebird, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
With so many plants in the gardens, and many of them flowering, it is not surprising to find many honeyeaters present and active. The Red Wattlebird shown in the photo above was quite unafraid of me only a few metres away; they are obviously used to people.