Something to Laugh About
Several weeks ago my wife and I were talking to a friend about the birds in our garden. We were asked if Laughing Kookaburras ever came to visit our garden. Yes, they do from time to time, but when we thought about it, we realised it has been quite a few months – perhaps over a year even – since the last visit.
So it was a delight when one came to pay a short visit a few days ago. The downside was that I happened to be in Adelaide for a conference at the time, so I missed it. So I didn’t get a photo.
The photo below was taken at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney earlier this year. It was not in an aviary; it was a free flying bird.
Laughing Kookaburra
Anyone for a swim? Forget it baby Blackbird
I had been planning on cleaning our swimming pool for some time, but other jobs kept getting in the way. The weather has been warming up quite suddenly in recent weeks here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. After a very cold winter with many frosts the warmer air is quite a pleasant change.
And so it is that our thoughts turn to swimming. We have a small in-ground swimming pool in our garden. It is a lovely spot to relax in or around after a hot summer’s day. The exercise is also very good for us. Over the winter months it has become somewhat neglected, to the point where it would be more aptly called “Le Swamp.” It’s green – very green and murky. Not good for swimming. Even the local ducks are now shunning it, though one did pay a visit yesterday.
Now to clean the pool I have to vacuum all the rubbish off the bottom; things like leaves and sticks blown in from nearby trees during winter storms. I use a flexible blue rubber hose attached to the pump which vacuums (or rather sucks) the debris off the floor of the pool.
Good theory.
I have a problem.
I can’t use the hose; someone has used it to make it their home. A Blackbird couple have moved into the pool pump shed and made a nest on top of the hose where I hang it up between uses. Now the nest has babies. And so I cannot begin to prepare the pool for swimming. It doesn’t matter; the forecast for next week is for quite cool weather.
Related Articles:
- Common Blackbirds – information about Balckbirds with many comments from my readers about their experiences with this species.
- Do Blackbirds Swoop? – How to deal with aggressive bird behaviour. Again there are many comments from my readers. This is currently my most popular article.
Common Blackbird nest
Spotted Pardalote nesting
Nest hollow of the Spotted Pardalote
For several weeks we have been looking for a nesting hollow of the Spotted Pardalote in our garden or nearby, without luck until yesterday. Today I approached the hollow cautiously and took several photos of the nest. A few seconds later one of the nesting birds came cautiously towards the hollow carrying some soft, fine grass in its beak. The hollow was obviously finished and now they were furnishing it ready for the eggs.
Spotted Pardalote with nesting material in beak
Pardolotes are certainly on my list of favourite birds. We have two types here in Murray Bridge, both of them resident in our garden. This one is the Spotted Pardalote and the other is the Striated Pardalote. Both make the nest in a hollow at the end of a tunnel in sand, in the bank of a creek or river, in the cutting on the side of a road. The Pardalotes will also use a small hollow in a tree and even in gaps between brickwork in a building.
Related article:
- Spotted Pardalote – a close encounter with this species some months ago.
Great Birding Moments # 16 Cockatoo Valley
Keith Pitman's garden in Cockatoo Valley
We have driven through Cockatoo Valley dozens of times over the years but we have never stopped to have a look around. This small but growing community is near Gawler north of Adelaide. Last Saturday we rectified that; we were invited to visit a private garden just off the main road.
Callistemon flower (Bottlebrush)
This private garden is a massive three acres in size, almost like a small botanic garden or arboretum. We have known Keith, the owner, for some years through our mutual interest in Australian native plants. Keith planted up this garden some 18 years ago and he grew many Australian native plants for the cut flower trade. He no longer does this, having retired several years ago, but he still maintains this magnificent garden.
Banksia flower
Honeyeaters everywhere
With so many flowering plants in the garden the bird life is also wonderful. There seemed to be New Holland Honeyeaters everywhere and they far outnumbered the White Plumed Honeyeaters. The irritatingly noisy Little Wattlebirds keep up a constant barrage of their gratingly harsh “cocky-cock” and “yekkop, yekkop” calls all afternoon. Keith informed me that he rarely saw Red Wattlebirds in his garden which I found interesting.
Peaceful calls
We had barely sat down to have a cuppa in the garden when we heard the soft and soothing “doodle-doo” call of a Peaceful Dove nearby. House Sparrows frequently visited the fish pond near where we sat, but the Diamond Firetail finches did not make an appearance today. Pity. Such beautiful birds.
Babblers
The clownish White Browed Babblers played all around the bushes and where we had parked the car, their miaowing calls coming from a half dozen different bushes. Overhead the recently arrived Rainbow Bee-eaters swooped and glided on the air currents looking for insects. As we were having a final cuppa I spied a very quiet Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo feeding in a nearby eucalypt tree, but he flew on before I managed to get a photo.
Musk Lorikeet
Where are the Cockatoos in Cockatoo Valley?
All afternoon I had been seeing and hearing various parrots. I managed some lovely shots of the Musk Lorikeet as shown in the photo above. Rainbow Lorikeets often flew overhead as did small flocks of Galahs. I never saw a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo that afternoon even though they are common in the area. As for cockatoos in Cockatoo Valley I had a settle for eight Little Corellas that flew overhead just as we were about to leave.
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And a few miles down the road – Sulphur Crested Cockatoos in Williamstown where we had a picnic tea!
Babies, the Birds and the Bees
New Holland Honeyeater in nest
It must be spring here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. So many baby birds all around us, including the baby New Holland Honeyeater in the photo above – just about to leave the nest. This one did leave the nest a few hours after this photo was taken and its sibling just a short time before the photo. At lunch time today we saw another New Holland Honeyeater making a new nest only a few metres away from this one.
The New Holland Honeyeaters are not the only ones breeding. Here is a list of birds I have observed nesting, feeding young in the nest or feeding newly fledged young in the last few weeks. It only includes birds observed in our garden, on our five acre block of land or on the roads bordering our property (on two sides).
Breeding Birds September – October 2006
- White Winged Choughs – feeding young.
- Little Raven – feeding young.
- Red Wattlebird – feeding young in nest.
- Australian Magpie – feeding young.
- Yellow Rumped Thornbill – feeding young in nest.
- House Sparrow – feeding young.
- Common Starling – feeding young.
- Common Blackbird – eggs in nest fell out (when the plant pot it was in fell over).
- Spotted Turtledove – mating behaviour but nest not found.
- Crested Pigeon – mating behaviour but nest not found. [Update: I found the nest a day after posting this article]
- Grey Shrike Thrush – feeding young.
- White Plumed Honeyeater – feeding young.
Noteable Exception:
- Willie Wagtail – usually nest quite near the house but not observed nesting this year. This is noteworthy as it is probably the first time in over twenty years. It’s not too late, of course.
And the Bees??
The bees in the title of this article refer to several hives of bees – possibly feral bees – that have taken up residence in tree hollows. This prevents the native birds ever using that hollow again. We are trying to deal with the one nearest the house; two others are a little high in the trees to tackle.
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