White-faced Heron visits for a swim
White-faced Heron in our swimming pool
Yesterday we were delighted to have a special visitor to our swimming pool. Mind you – it would have been rather cold going for a swim. Winter seems to have returned after some very hot weather. Summer is officially just over a week away, yet we have had several days in the mid teens.
White-faced Heron in our swimming pool
This White-faced Heron wasn’t after a swim though. He was keeping a sharp eye on the frogs in our pool. Yes – you read that correctly. I’ve neglected the swimming pool for so long that the frogs have moved in. At least it’s getting some use.
The water level is down a metre too, and will take quite a deal of water to get it back to normal levels. Despite the current water restrictions, I feel okay about doing this. I haven’t added any water for several years now, relying only on rainwater from part of our roof.
White-faced Heron in our swimming pool
From memory, this is only the second time a White-faced Heron has landed in our garden in over 25 years. It’s about time the Little Pied Cormorant paid a visit.
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on the images.
Peaceful Dove
Peaceful Dove, Cleland Wildlife Park
While working in the garden yesterday we heard the unmistakable call of a Peaceful Dove. I started searching it out but was unable to locate the individual before it flew off. In my experience their call can have a ventriloquial quality. It can sound like it’s about thirty metres away, until one realises it is sitting in the tree above you.
Peaceful Dove, Cleland Wildlife Park
Peaceful Doves are widespread and relatively common around where I live – except in our garden. They only come to visit a handful of times every year. This is a pity, because we love hearing its soft doodle-doo call. It’s far nicer than that brain numbing call of the introduced Spotted Turtle Dove.
Spotted Turtledove
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters
Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater
We usually have a plentiful number of honeyeaters resident and breeding in our garden and the nearby mallee scrub. Probably the most numerous is the New Holland Honeyeater. This would be closely followed by the Red Wattlebird and the White-plumed Honeyeater. We also have several Singing Honeyeaters. From time to time we have visits from a small flock of Brown-headed Honeyeaters. They love splashing in our bird bath. Several other species visit only rarely. Some I haven’t seen here in many years.
One species we usually have around the garden somewhere is the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, as shown in the photos on this post. This species has been rather quiet lately. Just before I managed to race for the camera and get these shots the adult bird was feeding a young one. They must have been keeping their presence quiet while they were nesting.
This species is found throughout much of mainland Australia but not in Tasmania. It is also absent from the tropical north, coastal south east and far south west of the continent. Its preferred habitats include drier woodlands, scrubs and gardens.
The plant shown in the photos is Eremophila glabra.
When they were little, our children used to call this bird the “yoo-hoo” bird. This is one of its calls and is quite memorable. My wife and I still refer to it by this name.
Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater
House Sparrows eating berries
House Sparrows are large members of the finch family of birds. As such, they are predominantly seed eaters.
In reality, House Sparrows are far more omnivorous than that. Sure, they do eat a lot of seeds. For this we are grateful at our place, otherwise we might not just be over run with weeds but positively lost in a jungle of undesirables. I had to struggle to find something positive about those pesky little critters that seem to breed like rabbits… actually – our rabbit population is now breeding like sparrows… but that’s a story for another day.
Observing several House Sparrows near our bird bath recently I was interested to see that, after a quick drink, they both went to a nearby bush. This plant happened to be a local species called Enchylaena tomentosa. It is also known by the common name of Ruby Salt Bush. We have a few around on our property but I didn’t think they had any fruit on them at present. The sparrows were quite obviously eating the berries.
I guess the House Sparrows do eat far more than just seeds. According to the record in HANZAB* they eat a wide range of insects, spiders, fruits, grains (cereal crops) and berries such as the Boxthorn and the Ruby Salt Bush. Some have even been observed eating the nectar from a variety of trees and bushes. And we mustn’t forget their scavenging habits of eating food scraps left by humans.
HANZAB also mentions that they can be a pest in vegetable gardens too. Most gardeners will quickly point out that the humble House Sparrow has a definite liking for young seedling plants and poultry lovers will keep the local population booming by supplying a steady gourmet food source in their chook yards.
It seems that the little House Sparrow has rather eclectic tastes.
Further reading:
- House Sparrows – Birds in Backyards site
- Australian Plant Society article on Ruby Salt Bush – with a photo of the plant and berries
- *HANZAB – Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds Volume 7
House Sparrow
Bird Wars – Magpies v Falcon
1 Comment »17th October, 2008; Category: Bird Behaviour, Eagles Hawks and Kites, Garden birds, Magpies and Currawongs
A few days ago I was out in our garden. Whenever I’m out there my ears and eyes are on the alert for anything happening in the bird world.
I was suddenly aware of a Crested Pigeon flying at full speed from the direction of the main road past our five acre block. The pigeon seemed in a great hurry – in fact, it seemed terrified. And with good reason.
A Brown Falcon had been following it, obviously thinking that lunch was an easy grab. It had another think coming.
The resident male Australian Magpie had other ideas and swooped aggressively on the now harassed falcon, turning the aggressor into the victim. The Magpie kept on attacking the falcon – from a safe distance of a few metres – until it was well and truly off the property, and presumably out of the Magpie’s territory.
The Crested Pigeon was seen no more as it made its escape over the other side of the house where I lost sight of it.
And the Magpie saved its two babies in the nest nearby.
My advice to all my readers: keep a sharp eye on the behaviour of the birds in your part of the world. You never know when something dramatic will happen.